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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

Gl  FT    OF 


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To  the  Librarian  Receiving'  This  Book : — 

As  the  authorized  distributors  of  this  valuable  book  on  "Practi- 
cal Farming,"  we  are  merely  co-laborers  with  its  author,  Mr.  S.  W. 
Allerton,  of  Chicago,  ripe  in  years  and  experience,  the  largest  and 
most  successful  farmer  in  the  country,  now  retired,  and  desire 
that  the  present  and  future  farmers  of  this  nation  may  be  benefited 
by  the  distribution  and  circulation  of  this  book. 

This  book  has  the  approbation  of  men  of  such  national  re- 
pute as  Hon.  Jas.  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Agriculture;  Prof.  Hopkins, 
of  the  University  of  Illinois,  and  many  others.  We  trust,  there- 
fore, that  you  will  honor  it  with  a  place  in  your  Circulating  De- 
partment. 

We  respectfully  call  your  attention  to  the  inserted  leaflet  re- 
print. 

PITTSBURG  DAILY  LIVE  STOCK  JOURNAL. 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 

CAL!F0B^5> 


Cnicago,  September,  1907. 


VUiAxUsL   ^yJ-t-LinU^^ 


PRACTICAL 

FARMING 


A  Treatise  on  Present 
Farming  Conditions  and 
How  to    Improve    Them 


BY 


SAMUEL  W.  ALLERTON 


RAND,  McNALLY  &  COMPANY 
1907 


r-so\ 


A? 
floy 


Copyright,  1907,  by  Samuel  W.  Allerton 


"He  who  showeth  his  neighbor 
how  to  better  existing  condi- 
tions is  a  public  benefactor'' 


1 ftOOiK 


Preface 

Coming  from  Nebraska  recently,  my  son 
said  to  me,  ''Father,  you  should  write  a 
book  on  farming,  for  you  have  given  me 
lessons  in  farming,  and  I  raise  double  the 
amount  of  oats  and  corn  the  farmers  do  in 
Illinois,  and  my  land  is  no  better  than  my 
neighbors'.  If  you  can  write  a  book  and 
show  the  farmers  how  they  can  improve 
their  systems  of  farming,  you  will  be  a 
great  public  benefactor.  While  traveling 
in  the  Old  World,  particularly  in  India  and 
China,  I  saw  the  table  lands  worn  out  and 
abandoned.  Will  this  not  happen  in  our 
country  unless  the  farmers  change  their 
systems  of  farming  and  study  how  to 
improve  their  land  ?  If  you  could  show  the 
farmers  how  to  improve  their  land  in  a 
practical  way  instead  of  making  it  poorer, 
wouldn't  it  be  the  best  work  of  your  life?" 

Influenced  by  this  suggestion,  I  submit 
my  ideas.  Having  lived  on  a  farm  for 
twelve  years — from  the  time  I  was  fourteen 
years  old  to  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  my 
life — having  plowed,  mowed,  cradled,  and 
done  every  kind  of  work  connected  with  a 


farm,  and  having  owned  and  operated 
farms  practically  all  my  life,  I  feel  that  this 
experience  gives  me  some  knowledge  of 
farming,  and  enables  me  to  present  some 
practical  ideas  to  those  who  may  be  inter- 
ested in  my  conclusions.  I  notice  that  the 
rich  farmers  are  the  men  who  have  systems 
and  keep  their  land  in  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation. The  farmer  with  no  system  and 
land  worn  out  is  the  poor  farmer. 

I  feel  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man 
who  has  had  any  experience  in  cultivating 
soil  to  give  publicity  to  his  efforts  and 
progress  along  this  line,  and  thus  add  to  the 
success  of  the  American  farmer. 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  Illinois, 
as  a  corn  State,  is  the  richest  natural  body 
of  corn  land  in  the  United  States.  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa, Wisconsin,  Nebraska, 
and  Missouri  constitute  the  corn  belt. 
All  are  great  states  and  naturally  very  rich, 
productive  land.  We  see,  however,  that 
the  great  State  of  Illinois  averages  only 
about  thirty-three  bushels  to  the  acre  in  a 
good  corn  year.  What  does  this  indicate? 
That  the  land  has  not  been  properly  culti- 
vated and  kept  in  a  suitable  condition  to 
raise  large  crops  of  corn. 


Every  farmer  knows  that  his  land  is 
steadily  being  reduced  in  fertility,  and  is 
wondering  what  can  be  done  to  restore  it. 
I  met  some  farmers  last  year  who  lived  east 
of  Bement,  on  the  Wabash  road,  who  said 
they  raised  only  thirty  bushels  of  corn  and 
oats  to  the  acre.  They  raise  corn  one  year 
and  oats  the  next  year;  this  they  call  rota- 
tion of  crops,  but  they  return  nothing  to 
the  soil,  and  wonder  why  they  can't  raise 
as  big  crops  as  they  used  to.  This  is  very 
rich  land — no  better  in  the  State  of  Illinois 
— and  should  raise  sixty  bushels  of  oats  per 
acre  and  eighty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre, 
if  they  would  rotate  their  crops,  keep  part 
of  it  in  grass;  keep  some  live  stock — cattle, 
sheep,  or  hogs — and  use  some  phosphate. 

Samuel  W.  Allerton. 

Chicago,  September,  1907. 


GRADUALLY  KILLING  THE  LAND 

Every  man  familiar  with  raising  corn 
knows  that  eighty  bushels  per  acre  can  be 
raised  as  easily  as  thirty  bushels  per  acre, 
if  the  land  is  properly  treated.  With  all 
the  big  crops  we  raise — corn,  oats,  wheat, 
rye,  barley,  and  flax — under  our  present 
system  of  general  farming  (there  are  excep- 
tions), we  are  reducing  the  production  2 
per  cent  yearly.  Professor  Hopkins  of  the 
University  of  Illinois  claims  that  the  great 
rich  State  of  Illinois  will  be  a  desert  within 
one  hundred  years  unless  we  change  our 
system  of  farming.  How  does  he  prove  it? 
He  has  a  plot  of  ground  which  he  has 
planted  to  corn  for  the  last  twenty-eight 
years.  In  a  few  years  it  will  be  exhausted, 
and  will  raise  neither  corn  nor  clover.  He 
estimates  that  it  will  take  forty-eight  years 
to  exhaust  the  soil  of  phosphorus.  He  has 
two  other  plots,  and  raises  corn  on  one  and 
oats  on  the  other  every  other  year.  This 
is   the  system   that  most  of   our   farmers 


io  Practical     Farming 

follow — plow  their  oat  stubble  in  the  fall, 
plant  corn  the  next  year,  and  sow  their 
oats  on  the  corn  stubble. 

These  two  strips  are  as  fine  land  as  there 
is  in  Illinois,  and  yet  raise  only  thirty 
bushels  of  corn  per  acre  and  thirty  bushels 
of  oats,  and  lose  about  2  to  3  per  cent  every 
year  in  producing  a  crop,  and,  obviously,  in 
thirty  years  will  be  exhausted.  He  has 
other  plots  where  he  plants  clover  one  year, 
corn  the  next  year  and  oats  the  third  year, 
and  in  this  way  raises  sixty  bushels  per 
acre;  he  has  still  other  plots  where  he 
plants  clover,  corn,,  and  oats  in  rotation, 
with  fertilizer,  and  raises  ninety  bushels  per 
acre.  These  facts  have  been  demonstrated 
by  the  State  Agricultural  Society  at  Cham- 
paign. These  being  facts,  has  not  the  time 
come  when  the  farmers  of  the  great  North- 
west should  do  a  little  thinking  and  study 
how  to  improve  their  land? 

In  the  State  of  Maine,  where  the  soil  is  of 
a  very  poor  quality,  they  raise  a  greater 
quantity  per  acre  than  we  do  in  the  great 
State  of  Illinois.  These  facts  must  cer- 
tainly   convince    every    intelligent    farmer 


Five -Field    System  1 1 

that  we  must  return  something  to  the  soil, 
and  that  we  cannot  constantly  reduce  it 
without  serious  consequences.  Probably 
70  per  cent  of  the  corn  land  in  Illinois  has 
been  cultivated  for  the  last  thirty  years  in 
this  way — oats  one  year,  corn  the  next  year, 
with  really  nothing  returned  to  the  soil. 
FIVE-FIELD  SYSTEM 
Take  the  average  farmer  who  has  160 
acres  of  land.  He  may  raise  about  seventy 
acres  of  corn  and  seventy  acres  of  oats. 
His  gross  sales  will  not  be  much  over  $1,200. 
He  should  divide  his  160  acres  into  five 
fields  of  thirty  acres  each,  allowing  ten 
acres  for  a  house,  barn,  and  garden;  keep 
100  good  ewes;  have  sixty  acres  in  corn, 
sixty  acres  in  grass,  thirty  acres  in  rye  or 
oats;  keep  twenty  good  brood  sows,  raise 
100  pigs,  and  arrange  to  have  the  pigs  come 
in  the  last  of  February  or  the  first  of  March. 
In  this  way  his  land  would  be  kept  in  a  rich 
state  and  he  would  be  sure  to  raise  seventy- 
five  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  (unless  he  had 
an  excessively  dry  July  and  August),  and 
he  would  probably  raise  about  thirty 
bushels  of  rye  to  the  acre. 


12  Practical     F  arming 

It  would  be  better  to  sow  rye,  because 
he  would  be  sure  to  get  a  better  set  of  clover 
than  after  oats.  If  he  raised  ioo  good  mar- 
ket lambs,  they  would  be  worth  $500;  his 
wool  should  bring  $150;  he  should  raise  100 
hogs  to  weigh  200  pounds,  worth  $1,200; 
his  rye  crop  would  be  worth  $400  at  least, 
and  he  should  raise  about  4,500  bushels  of 
corn,  half  of  which  he  would  feed  to  his 
hogs  and  horses,  leaving  about  2,000  bushels 
to  sell,  which  would  yield  $800  more.  This 
would  make  his  gross  sales  amount  to  $3,050, 
and  his  land  would  be  growing  richer  every 
year  instead  of  poorer,  as  it  is  now.  His  corn 
fodder,  properly  cared  for,  would  be  much 
better  feed  for  his  stock  than  hay.  He 
would  have  sixty  acres  in  grass,  and  he 
could  divide  off  ten  acres,  with  a  temporary 
fence,  for  a  meadow. 

CROP    ROTATION 

Hon.  Secretary  Wilson  says  we  can  keep 
our  land  up  by  the  ordinary  rotation  of 
crops,  but  Professor  Hopkins  says  not.  I 
have  always  been  of  the  same  opinion  as 
Secretary  Wilson,  that  we  can  keep  our  land 


Fertilizers  1 3 


up  by  the  rotation  of  crops  under  the  five- 
field  system,  but  I  have  watched  this  rota- 
tion of  crops  and  am  now  convinced  Pro- 
fessor Hopkins  is  right.  I  find  the  straw 
gets  weak  and  lodges  easily;  after  a  few 
years  the  corn  is  not  plump,  the  ears  are  not 
sound  and  firm  as  when  we  use  phosphate 
or  potash,  but  with  the  five-field  system 
and  phosphate,  we  would  restore  our  land 
to  its  natural  fertility  and  keep  it  in  a  state 
of  high  cultivation. 

FERTILIZERS 

Professor  Hopkins  advises  buying  Tennes- 
see phosphate  rock  for  fertilizer.  Some  of 
our  farmers  have  used  it,  but  can't  really 
see  any  benefit  from  its  use,  but  that  is 
because  they  don't  use  it  properly.  It 
should  be  sown  on  the  green  clover  or  green 
weeds  and  plowed  under  or  mixed  with 
manure  and  plowed  under.  This  affords 
acids  enough  to  liberate  the  phosphate 
from  the  rock.  Therefore,  any  farmer 
dividing  his  farm  into  five  fields,  two  in 
pasture,    one    in    rye,    and    two    in    corn, 


14  Practical   Farming 

utilizing  all  his  manure  with  a  moderate 
amount  of  phosphate  or  Tennessee  rock, 
would  improve  his  land  every  year,  and,  in 
a  few  years,  raise  more  corn  on  sixty  acres  of 
land  than  he  now  raises  on  ioo  acres,  and 
raise  a  very  much  larger  crop  of  rye,  oats, 
or    wheat.     I    consider    this    system    well 
adapted  to  Illinois,   Iowa,   Ohio,   Indiana, 
Wisconsin,  and  Missouri.    Traveling  through 
the  old  world,   China  or  Japan,   you  find 
that   when    they    market    their   products 
they  always  take  something  back  to  fer- 
tilize their  soil.     Necessity  has  taught  them 
this,  and  should  we  not  begin  to  think  of 
our  situation  with  this  fact  before  us — that 
Illinois  raises  only  thirty  bushels  of  oats  and 
thirty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre.    This  is  a  fact 
that  we  cannot  ignore.     I  know  that  farm- 
ers sometimes  get  into  a"  rut,  and  it  is  hard 
work  for  them   to   change,   but   the   only 
thing  to  do  is  to  recognize  these  mistakes 
and  correct  them.     Don't  try  to  plant  so 
many  acres,  but  raise  more  corn  on  fewer 
acres. 


V 


OF  /, 


Testing  Commercial  Fertilizers  i  5 

TESTING  COMMERCIAL  FERTILIZERS 

It  is  very  simple  to  make  a  test  to  know 
positively  the  value  of  the  different  kinds 
of  commercial  fertilizers,  by  taking  a  strip 
of  land  through  your  field  and  treating  it 
with  fertilizer.  Of  course,  you  could  take 
several  strips  and  try  the  value  of  all 
commercial  fertilizers.  Naturally,  there  is 
a  great  variety  of  soil  in  the  different  states, 
and  generally  the  farmer  knows  what  is  the 
best  crop  to  raise  on  his  land,  but  take  the 
great  states  I  have  named,  and  corn  and 
oats  are  the  best  products.  Nature's  law 
has  arranged  things  so  that  we  can  keep  our 
land  in  a  state  of  high  cultivation  by  the 
proper  rotation  of  crops  and  applying  phos- 
phate. I  have  one  farm  on  which  corn  was 
raised  on  clover  sod  and  yielded  82  bushels 
per  acre.  The  next  year  this  same  land 
was  again  planted  to  corn  and  yielded  only 
56  bushels  to  the  acre.  A  farmer  adjoining 
me,  with  as  fine  land  as  there  is  in  the  State 
of  Illinois,  has  corn  that  will  yield  only  25 
bushels  to  the  acre.  He  is  one  of  the  farm- 
ers with  the  system  of  oats  one  year,  corn 


1 6  Practical      Farming 

the  next  year,   and  never  returning  any- 
thing to  the  soil. 

Hon.  James  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, says  that  corn  cobs  are  of  no  use 
to  any  man.  He  is  generally  right,  but 
I  disagree  with  him  in  this.  The  cobs  and 
the  stalks  have  as  much  phosphate  as  the 
corn.  Stalks  and  cobs  should  never  be 
burned.  As  good  a  piece  of  corn  as  I  ever 
saw  was  raised  on  land  covered  with  cobs. 
In  the  old  states  they  husband  their  manure 
with  great  care.  We,  in  the  West,  burn  our 
straw  and  stalks,  and  put  little  value  on 
the  manure,  which  is  a  mistake.  It  should 
all  be  saved  and  spread  on  the  land  and 
plowed  under. 

TENNESSEE  PHOSPHATE  ROCK 

Professor  Hopkins  has  great  faith  in 
Tennessee  phosphate  rock  as  a  cheap  fer- 
tilizer. I  have  not  yet  had  experience 
enough  to  state  its  true  value.  I  see  the 
Agricultural  College  of  Ohio  claims  that 
when  it  is  properly  mixed  with  manure  it  is 
worth  $50  per  ton,  as  it  will  increase  a  crop 
of  corn  that  much. 


Proving  the  Value  of  Fertilizers  17 

PROVING  THE  VALUE  OF  FERTILIZERS 
Take  one  or  two  barrels  and  saw  them  in 
two;  get  some  sand;  wash  it  and  fill  each 
half  barrel  with  this  sand.  If  mixed  with 
the  proper  fertilizers  you  can  grow  big  corn. 
This  test  should  certainly  satisfy  any 
farmer  of  the  value  of  commercial  fer- 
tilizers, for  the  corn  could  not  grow  in  this 
sand  without  fertilizers,  and  should  con- 
vince the  farmer  of  the  importance  of  buy- 
ing the  proper  fertilizers  for  his  soil. 

CHICAGO'S  MISTAKE 
There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  but  what 
Chicago  will  realize  in  fifty  years  one  great 
mistake  it  made.  We  should  have  dug  a 
tunnel  under  the  city  for  sewerage  and 
saved  the  fertilizer.  We  would  then  have 
had  drainage  for  the  city,  and  fertilizer  to 
sell  to  enrich  farm  lands. 

JAMES  J.  HILL 
James  Hill  has  given  the  American  people 
warning  of  over-confidence  in  believing  that 
our  land  will  always  produce  great  crops 
without  greater  intelligence  in  farming. 
Hill  is  a  thinking  and  an  observing  man. 


1 8  Practical      F  arming 

He  sees  the  rich  valley  of  the  Red  River 
gradually  being  reduced  in  fertility;  that 
they  now  have  to  summer  fallow  their  land, 
and  that  it  takes  two  years  to  raise  a  crop. 
In  the  early  history  of  California  they  sowed 
wheat,  and  it  would  shell  out  and  they 
would  have  a  volunteer  crop,  but  now  the 
land  has  to  be  summer  fallowed,  and  it 
takes  two  years  to  raise  a  crop.  Hill  sees 
the  necessity  of  arousing  the  farmer  to 
realize  that  he  is  gradually  wearing  out  his 
land.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time  when 
the  farmer  will  be  asking  himself,  "Why 
can't  I  raise  such  crops  as  I  used  to?" 
Prof.  Hopkins  tells  me  he  receives  thou- 
sands of  letters  from  farmers  making  this 
inquiry.  His  answer  is,  "A  better  system 
of  farming  by  rotating  crops  and, applying 
phosphate  to  the  soil,"  phosphate  being  the 
most  important  element  in  raising  a  good 
crop  of  corn,  potatoes,  oats,  barley,  and 
clover.  England,  France,  and  Germany 
buy  2,500,000  tons  of  phosphate  yearly. 
Surely  they  realize  its  value  or  they  would 
not  continually  increase  their  demand. 
Shall  we  remain  dormant  and  allow  them  to 


Wilful  Waste  Makes  Woeful  Want       19 

take  from  us  that  which  our  lands  are 
hungering  for?  This  is  a  serious  question 
for  our  farmers  to  consider. 

WILFUL   WASTE    MAKES    WOEFUL   WANT 

There  is  no  city  in  the  history  of  the 
world  that  has  grown,  in  a  short  time,  so 
vast  in  population,  wealth,  and  importance 
as  the  city  of  Chicago ;  but  no  city  has  trib- 
utary to  it  so  many  acres  of  productive 
land.  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Minnesota, 
Nebraska,  and  Missouri  abounded  in  fertile 
soil.  All  the  farmer  had  to  do  was  to 
break  these  rich  rolling  prairies  and  he  had 
a  garden  of  the  richest  soil  in  the  world. 
Crops  grew  in  great  abundance.  We  can 
feed  the  world  from  these  lands,  and  yet, 
in  shipping  millions  of  bushels  of  grain,  we 
are  gradually  taking  from  the  soil  millions 
of  tons  of  phosphate  and  other  elements 
that  made  our  soil  so  productive.  No 
nation  has  so  vastly  reduced  its  soil.  The 
inventor  and  the  enterprising  manufacturer 
have  made  machinery  to  cultivate  these 
rich  prairies  with  great  economy.  In  fifty 
years    more,  however,  with  this  continual 


20  Practical      F  arming 

debasing  of  your  soil,  without  any  thought 
of  restoring  it  to  its  natural  fertility,  what 
will  be  the  condition  of  the  great  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  that  should  be  the  empire 
of  the  nation? 

Unless  we  study  how  to  improve  our 
lands,  we  will  be  hunting  for  bread  to  feed 
our  own  people.  No  question  is  of  so  great 
importance  to  the  American  people.  How 
shall  be  restore  our  land  and  maintain  its 
fertility?  We  know  it  has  been  reduced  30 
per  cent  and  is  gradually  growing  less  pro- 
ductive, but  with  the  aid  of  scientific  men 
practical  farmers  can  restore  it.  How  shall 
we  arouse  the  farmer  to  realize  the  impor- 
tant position  he  holds,  for  the  successful 
farmer  is  the  basis  of  all  our  great  indus- 
tries. We  have  fine  agricultural  colleges, 
and  yet  90  per  cent  of  our  farmers  cultivate 
their  land  as  they  have  for  the  last  forty 
years.  We  read  about  the  poor  Russians 
starving  because  their  land  is  worn  out. 
We  think  this  will  never  happen  to  us,  but 
if  we  go  through  the  southern  part  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  where  they  used  to  grow 
fine  crops  of  wheat  on  the  rolling  prairies, 


Important  Questions  21 

the  land  abandoned  to-day  and  selling  at 
$18  to  $20  per  acre,  we  will  realize  our  posi- 
tion. Take  Central  Illinois,  the  richest  land 
in  the  world,  and  it  will  not  raise  half  a  crop. 
We  read  about  Illinois  raising  on  an  average 
only  half  a  crop  of  oats,  and  yet  the  farmers 
who  cultivate  their  land  properly  have  fine 
crops.  We  ship  yearly  2,500,000  tons  of 
phosphate  rock  to  the  old  country  when 
we  need  it  at  home.  How  can  we  arouse 
the  farmer  to  buy  these  fertilizers  and  keep 
them  at  home  ? 

IMPORTANT   QUESTIONS 

We  have  many  great  questions  to  solve 
in  this  country.  The  tariff  question,  for 
instance,  which  is  simple  within  itself.  If 
too  high,  gradually  reduce  it  a  percentage 
each  year  and  let  the  manufacturer  adjust 
himself  to  a  lower  tariff. 

We  have  men  who  wish  to  run  for 
President ;  clamoring  for  government  owner- 
ship of  railroads,  which  means  a  centralized 
government  that  will  be  more  arbitrary 
than  the   Russian  government. 


22  Practical      F  arming 

The  immigration  question  is  of  great 
importance;  great  numbers  of  foreigners 
coming  to  our  land  who  don't  understand 
the  meaning  of  Liberty — individual  rights 
with  reciprocal  duties.  This  question  should 
call  for  the  best  thoughts  of  our  people. 

THE  GREATEST  PROBLEM  OF  ALL 
Great  as  all  these  questions  are,  however, 
there  is  no  question  of  so  great  importance 
to  the  American  people  as  how  to  restore 
our  land  to  its  natural  fertility  and  keep  it 
in  a  state  of  high  cultivation. 

KEEP  THE  LAND  UP 
To  be  prosperous  and  successful,  the 
farmer  must  study  how  to  keep  his  land  in 
a  state  of  high  cultivation,  for  if  kept  in 
this  condition,  he  will  raise  a  fairly  good  crop 
in  a  bad  year.  If  his  land  is  run  down,  of 
course  he  will  raise  a  poor  crop,  and  when 
his  land  gets  poor,  he  will  grow  poor. 

LACK    OF   TILING  AND  CROP  ROTATION 

Coming  from  Omaha,  and  riding  through 

Eastern  Iowa  and  Northern  Illinois,  I  saw 

a  beautiful  country,  but  I  know  the  corn 

will  not  average   thirty  bushels  per  acre. 


Reclaiming  Land  23 

Eastern  Iowa  and  Northern  Illinois  need 
tiling,  but  I  did  not  see  a  drainage  tile  fac- 
tory anywhere  in  that  district.  No  man 
could  wish  for  a  more  beautiful  country  and 
richer  soil.  If  tiled  and  farmed  by  rotation, 
all  this  land  should  raise  75  bushels  of  corn 
per  acre.  I  saw  no  farm  that  seemed  to  be 
laid  out  with  any  regard  to  system  of  lots. 
The  whole  thing  seems  to  be  run  on  a  hap- 
hazard, go-as-you-like-it  plan.  On  any  of 
these  good  160-acre  farms  30  cows  could  be 
kept  by  being  soiled,  as  easy  as  15  cows  if 
pastured,  as  cattle  running  in  pasture  fields 
tread  out  more  or  less  grass  and  stomp  the 
ground,  which  is  bad  for  it. 

RECLAIMING  LAND 
The  Government  is  spending  large 
amounts  of  money  for  irrigation.  If  the 
State  of  Iowa  would  pass  a  drainage  law, 
the  same  as  Illinois  has,  issue  4  per  cent 
bonds  which  they  could  sell,  and  loan  the 
money  to  the  farmers  to  drain  the  Missouri 
bottom  by  making  proper  canals  and  outlets 
for  the  rivers,  they  would  make  more  good 
acres  of  land  than  the  Government  will  by 
spending  millions  of  dollars  for  irrigation. 


24  Practical      Farming 


With  proper  outlets  for  the  water,  the 
farmers  in  the  Missouri  bottom  would  soon 
pay  back  to  the  State  all  they  had  borrowed 
to  carry  out  this  system, '  for  then  they 
would  possess  some  of  the  finest  lands  in  the 
world.  Necessarily,  the  farmers  must  begin 
to  think,  and  send  men  to  the  legislature  in 
their  interest  and  in  the  State's  best  interest. 
Wouldn't  it  be  better  to  let  the  farmers  have 
their  own  drainage  districts  and  do  the 
work  themselves,  as  they  would  probably 
do  the  same  work  at  one-half  the  cost  the 
State  would  do  it  for? 

THE  FARMER  IS  KING 
People  generally  think  that  farming  is  a 
laborious  occupation,  but  by  the  ingenuity 
of  our  machinery  manufacturers,  the  bur- 
den of  farming  has  been  reduced  so  that 
very  little  laborious  work  is  done  on  a  farm. 
In  fact,  it  is  the  most  independent  life  a  man 
can  lead;  and,  with  rural  free  delivery, 
and  by  taking  a  good  newspaper,  the  farmer 
can  know  what  is  going  on  in  the  world. 
Life  on  a  farm  gives  children  a  good  con- 
stitution, and,  with  our  free  schools,  their 
opportunities  are  better  than  those  of  the 


The  Farmer  is  King  25 

boy  raised  in  the  city.  So  far  as  living  is 
concerned,  the  farmer  is  100  per  cent  better 
off  than  half  the  people  living  in  cities.  I 
took  a  friend  of  mine  down  on  a  farm  once, 
and  he  remarked  that  he  supposed  he  would 
not  get  much  to  eat.  I  said,  as  he  was 
raised  in  Vermont  he  would  probably  get 
along  with  a  rind  of  pork,  and  bread 
and  milk.  He  replied  he  could  get 
along  if  he  got  plenty  of  good  bread  and 
milk.  We  drove  up  to  a  farm  house  and  I 
told  the  lady  we  would  like  some  dinner. 
She  said  it  would  be  ready  in  two  hours. 
After t  my  friend  ate  his  dinner  he  com- 
menced writing,  and  I  asked  him  what  it 
was  about.  He  said  he  was  making  note 
of  the  fact  that  although  he  had  eaten  at 
Delmonico's  and  Kinsley's,  and  a  good 
many  other  places,  this  was  the  finest 
dinner  he  had  ever  eaten.  There  were 
thirty-seven  different  dishes  on  the  table, 
and  all  raised  on  the  farm,  except  the  coffee, 
sugar,  salt,  and  spices.  A  good  garden 
every  farmer  ought  to  have.  If  he  would 
have  a  long  garden,  so  he  could  cultivate  it 
with  a  horse,  and  plant  his  vegetables  in 


26  Practical      Farming 

rows,  he  would  always  have  the  finest 
vegetables  in  the  world,  while  those  in  the 
city  are,  in  a  measure,  stale. 

CANTALOUPES 

Cantaloupes  are  a  delicious  fruit.  Plant 
them  in  this  way :  Dig  a  small  hole  and  put 
in  some  horse  manure;  mix  in  some  cow 
manure,  and  put  some  dirt  over  it.  Take 
a  half -inch  board  and  make  an  open  frame 
six  feet  long  and  three  feet  wide ;  take  some 
cheese  cloth  and  put  it  on  the  top  to  keep 
the  bugs  off.  After  the  plants  get  well 
started,  take  the  frames  off,  and  if  you  have 
some  fine  animal  fertilizer,  sprinkle  it  over 
the  vines.  This  will  help  them  and  also 
keep  off  the  bugs.  The  Emerald  Gem  and 
Rockyf ord  are  good ;  Hackensack  and  Osage 
are  better.  They  grow  to  weigh  12  to  15 
pounds  and  are  fine.  To  get  them  started 
early,  cut  a  rich  sod  one  foot  square  and 
put  it  in  a  small  box  and  plant  your  seeds. 
If  you  have  a  cold  frame  put  it  in  this;  if 
not,  set  your  box  in  the  garret.  They  will 
start  to  grow  and  when  the  weather  gets 
warm  set  them  out  and  this  will  give  you 


Dairy  Cows  27 


early  cantaloupes.  I  think  any  man  will 
work  better  who  has  a  cantaloupe  for 
breakfast.  All  men  appreciate  good  food 
and  will  respond  when  they  realize  their 
employers  mean  to  treat  them  well.  Every 
one  likes  to  be  considered.  It  costs  a 
farmer  but  little  to  have  a  good  garden, 
and  it  will  pay  him  ten-fold  in  many  ways. 

DAIRY   COWS 

There  is  no  doubt  but  what  a  farmer  with 
160  to  240  acres  of  land  in  Northern  Illinois 
ought  to  keep  cows,  as  that  is  the  best 
stock,  if  he  is  within  a  reasonable  distance 
of  the  market  for  his  milk;  for  with  the 
system  I  have  laid  out,  he  would  keep  his 
land  in  a  state  of  high  cultivation  with  the 
cows.  I  am  informed  that  cows  kept  in  a 
barn  and  soiled  in  summer  will  give  more 
milk  than  those  running  in  pasture.  The 
farmer  should  have  some  phosphate  on 
hand  to  mix  with  his  manure,  as  it  is  neces- 
sary to  have  some  kind  of  acid  to  liberate 
the  phosphate  from  the  Tennessee  Rock. 


28  Practical      Farming 

STEERS 

A  farmer  with  160  acres  of  land,  living  a 
good  distance  from  the  market,  could  keep 
forty  steers  if  he  soiled  them  in  the  summer. 
A  farmer  keeping  steers  would  need  a  barn 
forty-two  feet  wide  and  sixty  feet  long, 
with  racks  on  each  side  of  the  barn  to  feed 
his  cut  corn,  clover  hay,  or  oat  straw,  with 
a  water  trough  on  each  side  and  a  yard  on 
the  outside.  This  would  give  the  steers  a 
chance  to  walk  in  the  sun,  which  is  of  great 
importance  in  fattening  them.  With  a 
1 2 -foot  loft  over  his  cattle  shed,  he  could 
use  this  space  to  store  his  corn  fodder  in. 

In  the  summer  let  him  mow  his  green 
clover  and  soil  his  cattle.  On  his  corn 
fodder  cut  up,  a  little  clover  hay,  and  five 
ears  of  corn  each  day,  his  cattle  would  grow 
all  winter.  During  the  months  of  May  and 
June  feed  them  a  peck  of  corn  each  day; 
then  he  would  have  a  lot  of  fat  cattle,  and 
not  feed  over  forty  bushels  of  corn  to  a 
steer.  If  his  farm  is  rich  Illinois  land,  he 
would  probably  raise  eighty  acres  of  corn, 
forty  acres  of  clover,  and  forty  acres  of  rye, 


OF  THt 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

TAL-FOR^ 


Steers  29 

and,  with  the  manure  and  a  little  commercial 
fertilizer,  would  keep  his  land  up  in  good 
shape. 

80  acres  of  corn  at  75  bushels 

per  acre  would  be 6,000  bu. 

To  feed  cattle,  horses,  and  hogs 

would  take 3,600  bu. 

Leaving  to  sell 2,400  bu. 

2,400  bu.    corn    at   $.40   per 

bushel  would  be $    960 

40  steers  should  bring  a  profit  of  1,600 

100  hogs  should  bring 1,200 

30  acres  of  clover  seed  should 

produce 270 

30  acres  of  rye  should  produce  .  .  360 

$4,39° 
Expenses : 

Two  men $720 

General  expenses 200 

Grocery  bill 200 

Interest  on  money  invested 

in  cattle 96  $1,216 


Leaving  a  net  profit  of  $3,174 


30  Practical      Farming 


As  a  general  rule,  I  think  a  small  farmer 
better  keep  a  good  flock  of  ewes  or  cows 
than  to  handle  steers ;  but  if  he  has  a  fancy 
for  steers  and  knows  how  to  buy  and  care 
for  them,  he  can  make  money  with  them. 

DRY   FARMING 

To  raise  a  crop  of  corn  the  land  should  be 
well  cultivated  before  planting;  it  can't 
be  made  too  fine  and  in  too  good  a  condition 
before  planting.  If  the  ground  is  properly 
prepared,  a  crop  of  corn  can  be  raised  much 
easier,  and  if  kept  mellow,  a  crop  of  corn 
can  be  raised  without  much  rain.  If  the 
land  is  well  pulverized  before  planting,  and 
the  corn  planted  in  a  furrow  2  J  inches  deep, 
it  can  be  harrowed  after  it  has  been  planted 
four  or  five  days.  This  starts  the  weeds, 
and  it  can  be  harrowed  the  second  time. 
This  kills  the  weeds  and  keeps  the  land 
mellow,  which  should  be  plowed  not  less 
than  four  times.  I  think  we  all  plant  our 
corn  too  thick  when  planted  in  hills.  Corn 
will  not  grow  under  a  tree  in  a  field ;  it  must 
have  the  sun.     If  planted  4 J  feet  apart  in 


Dry  Farming  31 


rows,  in  drills,  one  spear  every  nine  inches, 
the  sun  reaches  the  blossoms  of  the  corn. 
In  this  way  we  get  12,848  spears  on  an  acre, 
while  if  planted  in  hills  we  get  only  10,602 
spears.  A  spear  of  corn  growing  alongside 
of  another  is  an  enemy  to  it  when  planted 
in  hills.  You  seldom  get  over  three  ears, 
generally  two,  to  each  hill,  but  when  the 
spears  are  grown  separately,  you  will  have 
an  ear  on  every  stalk  and  better  ears.  The 
farmer  will  say  it  is  more  work  to  cultivate 
the  corn  in  drills  than  when  planted  in  hills, 
but  plant  less  acres  and  keep  more  in  grass 
and  raise  more  corn  on  half  the  land.  If 
the  corn  is  planted  in  a  furrow  2  J  inches 
deep  and  the  harrow  used  at  least  twice 
after  plowing,  a  crop  can  be  raised  as  easily 
as  if  planted  in  hills. 

You  have  probably  read  about  dry 
farming  in  Colorado  and  Western  Kansas. 
The  farmers  plow  their  land  as  deep  as 
possible,  and  keep  the  top  of  the  soil  mellow 
so  as  to  retain  the  moisture,  and  in  this  way 
they  raise  a  crop  with  very  little  rain. 


32  Practical      Farming 

$ioo-ACRE    LAND 

It  is  a  common  remark:  "I  can't  afford 
to  keep  live  stock  on  $ioo-acre  land,"  but 
this  is  a  great  mistake.  The  farmer  who 
keeps  his  land  in  corn  will  wear  out  the 
soil  in  a  few  years  so  he  can  raise  only  half 
a  crop,  and  the  land  will  grow  poorer  every 
year.  I  worked  one  of  my  farms  on  the 
four-field  system.  I  had  2,000  acres  of  corn 
which  only  shelled  out  62  bushels  per  acre. 
One  piece  had  been  in  grass  for  three  years , 
and  that  shelled  out  ninety  bushels  per  acre ; 
so  I  am  about  convinced  that  I  will  have  to 
adopt  a  new  system — have  five  fields 
instead  of  four.  Illinois  as  a  State  in  a  few 
years  would  raise  more  corn  if  it  only  raised 
half  the  acres,  and  kept  part  of  the  land  in 
grass.     This  I  have  no  doubt  of. 

BEAUTIFY   THE    FARM 

I  have  always  felt  that  if  the  Illinois 
farmers  would  take  down  their  fences,  set 
fruit  trees  on  the  outside  lines  of  their 
farms,  have  only  as  many  fruit  trees  as 
they  can  care  for  and  spray  properly,  have 
a  barn  to  care  for  their  cattle,  the  same  as 


Trees  33 

they  do  in  Germany,  and  soil  them,  in  the 
spring,  Illinois  would  be  a  picture  beyond 
description,  and  the  barns  would  not  cost 
as  much  as  the  fences. 

TREES 

Every  man  should  set  out  trees  every 
year.  There  is  always  some  spot,  not  avail- 
able for  crops,  on  which  trees  can  be  grown. 
A  catalpa  tree  will  grow  a  trunk  suitable  to 
make  a  fine  post  in  eight  years,  a  railroad 
tie  in  fifteen  years.  Such  timber  will  be  of 
great  value  to  future  generations.  The 
hard  maple  is  one  of  the  prettiest  trees 
grown  in  our  country,  but  a  slow  grower. 
Trees  that  are  early  to  bud  in  the  spring, 
such  as  peach  trees,  should  be  mulched  after 
the  ground  has  frozen  in  the  fall  so  as  to 
hold  the  frost  in  the  ground  until  spring 
weather  is  settled;  then  take  the  mulch  off 
and  good  peaches  can  be  raised  in  most  any 
climate.  Trees  beautify  the  country  and 
we  all  love  to  see  them.  Let  everybody, 
then,  plant  them. 


34  Practical      F  arming 


THE  GOOD  FARMER 
Sam  Jones,  the  great  evangelist,  used  to 
say  he  could  always  tell  a  good  farmer. 
If  he  saw  him  leaning  on  the  south  side  of 
the  barn  in  March  waiting  for  the  sun  to  get 
strong,  he  was  sure  that  man  would  never 
raise  a  crop.  A  farmer  should  always  be 
ahead  of  his  work.  He  must  get  out  early 
in  the  spring  to  get  his  crops  in ;  his  oats 
should  be  sown  as  soon  as  possible;  then 
he  can  plow  his  corn,  for  the  more  he  plows 
his  corn,  if  done  intelligently,  the  more  corn 
he  will  raise.  But  if  he  is  behind  in  his 
work,  the  corn  will  be  neglected.  It  is  very 
important  to  keep  the  ground  mellow  if  the 
weather  is  dry,  for  then  it  will  stand  a 
drought.  If  left  hard,  the  sun  cracks  it, 
and  it  will  not  hold  the  moisture;  but  if 
kept  mellow  and  in  fine  condition,  it  will 
stand  a  drought  better,  and  a  crop  of  corn 
can  be  raised  if  well  tended  and  kept  in 
proper  shape.  Don't  plow  too  deep  the 
last  time  for  fear  of  cutting  off  the  roots. 
Every  farmer  should  try  to  plow  his  land 
very  deep  every  four  years,  so  as  to  make  a 
deep    soil.     In    traveling    through    Italy, 


Tiled  Land  35 


where  they  have  very  small  farms  and  not 
much  of  anything  to  fertilize  their  land, 
I  observed  that  they  spade  the  land  two 
feet  deep,  and  thus  make  a  deep  soil. 

TILED    LAND 

A  hill  of  corn  growing  on  top  of  tile  will 
always  be  the  biggest  hill.  Central  Illinois 
is  fairly  well  tiled,  but  still  could  be 
improved  with  more.  When  I  was  a  boy 
an  Englishman  bought  a  farm  in  Ontario 
County,  New  York,  on  the  banks  of  Lake 
Geneva,  which  was  considered  a  high,  dry 
farm.  He  hauled  tile  all  winter  to  tile  his 
land.  The  people  said  he  was  crazy,  that 
his  land  did  not  need  tiling;  but  he  tiled 
it,  ridges  and  all.  In  those  days  we  were 
troubled  with  the  weevil  getting  into  the 
heads  of  wheat,  but  the  Englishman's 
wheat  was  always  ripe  before  the  others, 
and  he  raised  a  fine  crop.  His  farm  gained 
such  a  reputation  that  he  sold  it  for  a 
nursery  at  a  very  high  price. 

In  riding  from  Lake  Geneva,  Wis.,  to 
Chicago,  I  find  that  one-fourth  of  the  land 
is  wet  and  unproductive,  and  not  of  much 


36  Practical      F  arming 

value.  If  the  farmers  would  get  together, 
hire  a  surveyor,  find  the  proper  outlet  and 
make  an  open  drain,  they  could  then  tile 
their  land  to  it.  It  makes  me  sick  to  see 
their  cows  knee  deep  in  the  mud,  eating 
bog  grass — no  nourishment.  If  some  of  the 
young  men  who  have  been  raised  on  farms 
and  educated  in  our  free  schools  would  take 
up  this  matter  and  get  surveyors  to  find 
the  natural  outlets,  they  would  add  much 
to  the  value  of  their  farms.  The  drainage 
law  in  Illinois  is  good,  and  I  hope  Wisconsin 
has  as  good  a  one.  If  not,  the  Legislature 
of  Wisconsin  should  pass  equally  as  good  a 
drainage  law.  Experience  teaches  me  that 
farmers  cannot  tile  too  much.  To  me  it 
is  a  real  pleasure  to  take  a  bad  piece  of  land 
and  make  it  into  a  garden. 

SHEEP 

For  a  small  farmer  I  think  sheep  are  the 
best  stock,  if  he  keeps  the  right  kind  and 
knows  how  to  care  for  them.  Good  market 
lambs  are  in  great  demand  and  will  always 
bring  from  6  to  8  cents  per  pound,  and  a 
farmer  should  get  $600  to  $700  net  on  100 


Weeds  37 


ewes.  Sheep  are  better  than  cattle  to  keep 
the  land  in  a  state  of  high  cultivation,  as 
they  keep  the  land  free  from  weeds.  Take 
any  of  our  good  Illinois  land  and  divide  it 
into  four  fields;  raise  80  acres  of  corn,  40 
acres  of  clover,  and  40  acres  of  rye,  sowing 
the  rye  after  the  corn  is  cut  up.  Probably 
a  farm  of  100  to  160  acres  would  not  keep 
more  than  80  good  ewes,  but,  by  having  a 
little  fertilizer,  having  one-fourth  of  the  land 
always  in  clover,  I  think  the  land  could  be 
kept  up,  as  he  would  have  the  manure.  I 
think  a  man  working  a  farm  on  this  system 
necessarily  would  have  to  buy  a  little  com- 
mercial fertilizer — some  phosphate  rock  or 
bone  meal. 

WEEDS 

When  you  sow  clover  with  your  oats,  rye, 
or  wheat,  if  the  land  is  rich  and  you  get 
any  rain  in  August,  the  weeds  will  start. 
They  should  be  mowed  the  first  of  Septem- 
ber, when  green,  before  they  go  to  seed. 
They  will  rot  quickly  and  make  some  fer- 
tilizer. The  clover  will  have  a  chance  to 
grow  in  September  and  October  and  make  a 
good  root,  and  will  make  a  much  better 


38  Practical      F  arming 

crop  the  next  year.     The  bigger  the  clover, 
the  bigger  the  next  crop  of  corn  will  be. 

EARLY   POTATOES 

To  raise  early  potatoes,  plow  the  ground 
in  the  fall.  Then  plow  out  a  trench  early  in 
the  spring  and  fill  the  trench  with  good 
horse  manure;  tread  it  down  well,  and  put 
a  little  dirt  on  the  manure ;  plant  the  pota- 
toes, this  and  will  give  you  early  potatoes. 
You  can  plant  this  same  ground  in  late 
potatoes,  which  are  better  for  the  winter. 
You  can  start  early  lettuce  and  radishes  in  a 
trench  of  this  kind,  and  in  this  way  get  them 
two  weeks  earlier  than  by  planting  on  top 
of  the  ground,  as  is  usually  done. 

GIVE   THE    CHILDREN   AN    INTEREST 

Many  farmers  think  they  cannot  afford  to 
give  their  children  anything,  but  this  is  a 
great  mistake.  Give  them  something  to  be 
their  own.  You  must  do  this  if  you  want 
right-thinking  boys  and  girls,  and  you  will 
have  more  willing  hands  to  help  you  get  out 
of  debt.  I  knew  a  farmer  living  in  Ohio  who 
gave  his  daughter  the  privilege  of  raising 


Give  the  Children  an  Interest  39 

chickens.  She  made  more  money  in  this 
way  than  he  made  on  his  farm,  and  her  work 
resulted  in  his  turning  his  farm  into  a  chicken 
farm.  So  you  see  he  gained  by  giving  his 
daughter  something  of  her  own. 

Give  a  boy  an  acre  of  corn  as  his  own  and 
he  will  commence  to  think,  read,  and  study 
how  to  raise  the  greatest  number  of  bushels. 
He  will  find  that  two  spears  of  corn  growing 
together  are  natural  enemies.  Let  him 
plant  his  corn  in  a  furrow  with  the  spears 
twelve  to  fifteen  inches  apart;  cultivate  it 
on  a  flat  surface  and  at  least  six  times.  In 
that  way  it  can  be  kept  clean.  If  planted 
in  drills  and  in  a  furrow  the  dirt  will  natur- 
ally work  all  around  the  corn.  He  will  see 
his  father  planting  on  top  of  the  ground,  in 
hills,  with  three  to  five  spears,  as  a  rule 
never  getting  more  than  three  ears  on  a 
hill,  generally  two.  The  father  will  be 
putting  the  plow  in  deep  the  latter  part  of 
June,  cutting  the  roots  of  the  corn,  hilling 
his  corn  to  destroy  the  weeds,  and  the  wind 
drying  out  the  hills.  He  will  hear  his 
father  complain  of  dry  weather  in  July  and 
August — corn  firing.     His  father  will  say 


40  Practical      Farming 

to  his  neighbor,  "It  is  getting  very  dry,  but 
my  son  has  an  acre  of  corn  that  does  not 
fire,  and  it  looks  as  if  he  would  raise  two 
bushels  of  corn  to  my  one." 

The  neighbor  will  say,  "I  don't  see  how 
you  keep  your  children  at  home;  my  boys 
seem  to  dislike  a  farm,  and  want  to  go  on 
the  railroad."  This  neighbor,  it  seems, 
gave  his  son  a  colt,  but  after  it  grew  up  the 
old  man  sold  it,  and  put  the  money  in  his 
own  pocket.  Consequently,  the  son  natur- 
ally thinks  the  farm  a  poor  place  to  live. 

When  I  was  a  boy  and  lived  on  a  farm,  I 
was  considered  the  best  boy  to  work  in 
Yates  County,  New  York.  I  had  a  small 
interest,  and  this  gave  me  courage  to  work 
for  something  of  my  own.  With  self-denial 
I  saved  $3,200  and  established  a  character 
and  credit  so  I  could  borrow  $5,000  on  my 
name.  My  credit  was  worth  as  much  to  me 
as  the  $3,200  I  had  worked  twelve  years  to 
save.  No  boy  can  succeed  unless  he  can 
build  up  a  character  and  credit.  I  have 
young  men  on  my  farm  who  started  to 
work  for  me  by  the  month  and  now  own  160 
acres  of  good  land. 


Clay  Land  41 


CLAY  LAND 
A  farmer  having  clay  soil  should  plant 
corn  only  on  sod.  If  the  land  is  good  wheat 
land,  plant  the  corn  4^  feet  apart,  a  spear 
for  every  nine  inches,  and  then  cultivate 
the  wheat  in  the  corn.  This  is  one  of  the 
cheapest  ways  of  raising  wheat.  You  have 
summer  fallowed  your  land  all  summer  by 
plowing  corn.  In  the  spring  sow  the  clover 
seed,  and  as  soon  as  the  land  is  dry  enough 
so  the  horses  will  not  sink  into  the  ground, 
drag  the  wheat  and  roll  it.  This  will  help 
the  wheat,  as  it  loosens  the  crust  formed  in 
the  winter.  You  will  have  a  fine  stand  of 
clover,  which  will  be  knee  high  in  the  fall. 
Pasture  it  one  summer,  or  cut  and  soil  it, 
and  put  what  manure  you  have  back  on  the 
land.  The  next  year  it  will  be  ready  for 
another  corn  crop,  but  if  the  land  is  weak 
and  not  rich  soil,  it  should  be  pastured  two 
years.  If  the  land  is  good  wheat  land  and 
fairly  good  corn  land,  it  should  be  divided 
into  four  fields,  so  as  to  have  one-fourth  in 
corn  and  one-fourth  in  wheat.  If  good 
land,  it  could  be  worked  on  the  three-field 
system — corn,  wheat,  and  clover — and  keep 
the  land  up. 


42  Practical      Farming 

I  once  knew  a  lawyer  who  lived  in  Ontario 
County  in  the  State  of  New  York,  who  had 
a  hard  clay  farm — good  wheat  land.  He 
kept  one-half  in  wheat,  dragged  his  wheat 
every  spring,  sowed  his  clover  seed,  rolled  it, 
and  pastured  his  clover  the  next  summer ; 
mowed  part  of  it  for  hay,  and  kept  a  flock 
of  sheep.  His  clover  generally  grew  up  in 
his  wheat  stubble  in  the  fall,  and  he  broke 
his  clover  sod  and  sowed  it  to  wheat.  In 
that  way  he  kept  one-half  his  land  in  wheat 
and  one-half  in  clover.  He  always  raised 
the  best  wheat  in  the  country,  and  he  was 
a  lawyer  at  that,  and  they  are  generally 
poor  farmers.  Of  course,  a  farmer  culti- 
vating a  wheat  farm  in  this  way  should  keep 
sheep. 

SYSTEM 

Generally,  farmers  have  no  system. 
They  fail  to  lay  out  their  land  into  lots  so 
they  can  adopt  a  system  of  rotation.  It  is 
of  great  importance  to  know  each  year 
where  to  sow  and  plant  corn,  oats,  or  rye. 
It  is  very  important  to  get  a  good  set  of 
clover.  Northern  Illinois  raises  corn  and 
oats,  but  if  the  land  is  rich,  the  oats  will  fall 


The  Hog  the  Mortgage  Payer  43 

down — and  it  is  a  gamble  whether  you  get 
a  good  set  of  clover  or  not.  We  find  by 
cultivating  clover  in,  the  same  as  we 
do  oats,  we  get  a  better  stand,  as  it  gets  a 
bigger  root  and  lives  through  the  hot 
weather,  after  the  oat  crop  is  harvested. 
But  to  be  sure  of  a  stand  a  farmer  should 
raise  one-half  rye.  If  the  rye  is  dragged  in 
the  spring,  and  the  crust  broken,  the  clover 
is  sure  to  get  a  good  stand.  With  clover 
I  should  always  sow  two  quarts  of  timothy. 
Orchard  grass  is  better,  if  you  can  get  the 
seed.  A  good  many  of  our  agricultural 
societies  recommend  what  they  call  a  catch 
crop,  such  as  soy  beans  and  other  crops  of 
that  kind,  to  be  sown  in  with  your  corn. 
But  if  you  raise  a  crop  of  corn  worthy  of  a 
good  farmer,  a  catch  crop  will  not  amount 
to  anything,  for  it  will  not  grow  in  with  big 
corn. 

THE  HOG  THE  MORTGAGE  PAYER 

I  have  always  found  the  hog  to  be  the 
money  maker  on  a  farm ;  but  we  all  fear  the 
cholera.  My  convictions  are  that  cholera 
is     produced     by     over-feeding     of     corn. 


44  Practical      Farming 

Farmers  should  raise  some  barley  to  be 
ground,  for  a  change  of  feed.  To  raise  hogs 
with  a  profit  you  should  have  your  sows 
pig  in  February.  Take  1 6-foot  boards  and 
saw  them  in  two ;  make  a  coop  fastened  up 
tight  on  both  ends,  and  have  a  door  for  the 
sow  to  go  through.  Put  straw  around  it,  or 
bank  it  up  with  dirt,  so  as  to  keep  it  warm. 
Have  some  warm  slop  for  the  sows  when 
they  pig,  so  as  to  make  milk  for  the  pigs. 
When  young,  keep  them  growing  with  slop 
of  barley,  oats,  or  rye,  or  some  other  grains, 
and,  of  course,  in  the  spring  it  will  be  well 
to  make  a  temporary  fence  and  fence  up  a 
few  acres  of  clover  for  them  to  run  in.  If 
fed  a  little  grain  while  running  in  this 
clover,  they  would  make  that  piece  of  clover 
land  very  rich.  By  having  your  pigs  come 
in  February,  you  are  enabled  to  get  them 
fat  and  sell  them  by  December,  and  not  be 
obliged  to  feed  them  through  the  winter. 
It  costs  money  to  winter  pigs,  although  a 
little  alfalfa,  cured  nicely,  will  be  a  great 
help  in  wintering  your  pigs  or  brood  sows. 
They  will  eat  it  like  a  steer  eats  hay,  and 


The  Hog  the  Mortgage  Payer  45 

you  can  winter  a  brood  sow  on  alfalfa  with 
very  little  corn. 

During  all  the  years  that  I  personally 
lived  on  a  farm,  we  never  made  any  money 
unless  we  had  some  pigs  to  sell.  In  Illinois, 
they  are  called  "mortgage  payers,"  which 
I  guess  is  the  proper  name  for  them.  The 
farmer  who  has  some  small  fields  to  sow  to 
peas,  some  early  and  some  late,  to  turn  the 
hogs  into  during  the  month  of  June,  would 
save  his  corn,  and  his  hogs  would  make  a 
great  growth  and  make  the  land  rich  so  it 
would  raise  a  good  crop  of  corn  the  next 
year.  In  dividing  up  these  little  fields  he 
might  have  a  temporary  fence  that  could  be 
removed. 

When  my  son  first  commenced  farming, 
he  said,  "I  see  one  of  your  drawbacks  is  that 
you  lose  your  hogs  with  the  cholera.  When 
I  was  in  France,  I  found  the  farmers  who 
raised  chickens  made  little  coops  and  scat- 
tered the  chickens  over  the  farm  so  as  to 
keep  but  few  together."  He  thought  he 
would  make  some  hog  coops  similar  in  shape 
but  larger,  and  scatter  them  over  the  farm 
and  in  this  way  avoid  the  cholera.      He  did 


46  Practical      F  arming 

this  and  has  been  very  successful  so  far  in 
raising  hogs.  He  is  now  raising  barley  to 
grind  and  feed  his  hogs,  for  a  change  from 
too  much  corn. 

COUNTRY   LIFE   THE    BEST 

People  in  the  country  think  living  in  the 
city  yields  more  pleasure  than  country  life ; 
but  this  is  a  mistake.  Two-thirds  of  the 
people  living  in  the  city  don't  live  half  as 
well  as  those  living  in  the  country.  Having 
lived  on  a  farm  for  twelve  years  of  my  life, 
I  know,  and  I  am  sure  I  had  as  much 
pleasure  as  the  people  in  the  city.  Mothers 
in  the  country  have  confidence  in  their 
daughters  and  sons,  and  are  not  obliged  to 
have  chaperons.  We  enjoyed  going  to 
dances,  parties,  socials,  and  sleigh  rides  as 
well  as  the  young  people  in  the  city.  People 
think  that  the  rich  get  more  pleasure  and 
happiness  out  of  life  than  the  people  in 
moderate  circumstances.  This  is  another 
mistake.  The  rich  are  not  the  happy  people 
of  the  world.  I  don't  think  the  richest  man 
in  the  world  gets  as  much  pleasure  out  of 
life  as  the  young  man  who  starts  out  to 


Boys  47 

establish  a  character  and  a  credit,  marries 
some  noble  young  woman,  builds  a  home 
he  can  afford,  surrounds  himself  with  true 
friends,  and  lives  a  manly  life. 

BOYS 

I  say  to  the  farmers'  boys:  "You  are 
needed  in  the  city,  for  nearly  all  city  boys 
degenerate  in  the  third  generation.  But 
never  go  to  the  city  until  you  have  accom- 
plished something  at  home.  If  you  do,  you 
will  fail." 

A  boy  raised  on  a  farm,  living  in  the 
country,  in  the  springtime,  sees  Nature 
putting  forth  all  her  energies;  the  trees 
blooming  and  blossoming  to  bear  fruit. 
He  sees  in  this  beautiful  picture  a  lesson, 
and  begins  to  realize  that  this  is  the  spring- 
time of  his  life.  As  time  goes  on,  he  must 
ripen  to  true  manhood  and  bear  fruit  that 
will  make  a  place  for  him  in  the  world.  So 
long  as  he  obeys  the  laws  of  his  country  and 
his  God,  he  is  as  good  as  a  king.  Do  not 
think  there  is  anyone  better.  Buckle  on 
the  armour  and,  with  high  ambitions,  strive 
to  be  a  man  in  the  highest  sense  of  true 


48  Practical     F  arming 

manhood.  In  your  spare  time  study  the 
English  language  and  you  will  be  fitted  to 
fill  any  position.  Do  not  forget  that  in  this 
life  it  requires  pluck,  energy,  self-denial, 
with  industry  and  economy  to  save  some- 
thing and  build  up  a  character  and  credit — 
that  with  these  nothing  can  stop  you  from 
being  a  man  among  men — respected  and 
honored  by  all.  Associate  with  girls,  as 
they  have  a  quicker  conception  of  right 
than  boys,  and  will,  as  a  rule,  give  you  a 
higher  idea  of  life.  Avoid  saloons.  They 
are  the  great  evil  of  our  country.  They 
fill  our  land  with  drunkards,  destroy  true 
manhood,  and  populate  our  land  with 
children  brought  into  the*  world  by  degen- 
erate parents,  and  raised  in  crime,  sorrow, 
and  hunger.  Many  a  poor  woman  is 
beaten  and  disgraced  by  a  drunken  hus- 
band, who  in  his  earlier  days  was  filled  with 
love  and  devotion.  Never  associate  with 
young  men  who  patronize  saloons,  for  if  you 
do,  no  one  can  tell  how  low  you  may 
fall.  How  many  promising  young  men 
have  I  seen  who  started  out,  as  they  called 
it,  to  be  sociable  and  take  a  drink,  scorning 


^     OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

£4L'F0R^ 


Girls  49 


the  idea  of  being  a  drunkard,  but  in  a  few 
years  were  rolling  in  the  ditch  of  degrada- 
tion— a  disgrace  to  themselves  and  their 
friends.  Nearly  all  the  great  men  of  our 
country  have  achieved  their  success  by 
their  own  exertions.  It  is  well  to  read  the 
histories  of  the  lives  of  successful  men,  but 
don't  forget  that  you  must  impress  people 
with  your  individuality,  thinking  for  your- 
self. In  the  winter  join  a  debating  class, 
for  this  will  help  you  to  express  yourself. 

In  traveling  abroad  and  seeing  how  they 
live  in  the  old  world,  I  can't  help  but  feel 
that  a  child  is  blessed  when  born  in  Illinois , 
and  the  country  is  better  than  the  city. 
Think  of  the  children  born  in  great  cities, 
living  on  the  sidewalks  and  brought  up  in 
sorrow,  crime,  and  hunger.  Chicago  arrests 
17,000  young  boys  yearly,  who  have  been 
brought  up  in  misery  and  never  know  when 
they  will  get  a  full  meal.  Are  not  children 
blessed  who  are  brought  up  in  the  country  ? 

GIRLS 
A  farmer's  daughter  should  be  loved  by 
everyone,  for  she  has  it  within  her  power 
to  win  everyone  by  making  all  who  come  to 


50  Practical     F  arming 

her  father's  house  at  ease.  Do  not  com- 
plain, but  realize  that  occupation  is  happi- 
ness; make  others  happy  and  you  will 
receive  your  share — be  the  sunshine  of  the 
house  and  never  say  a  word  against  anyone. 
If  you  feel  there  are  people  you  should  not 
associate  with,  let  them  go.  Better  spend 
your  time  learning  to  cook.  Many  a  man 
has  lost  his  heart  eating  a  good  dinner.  Do 
not  be  ashamed  of  your  position  in  life,  for 
you  are  a  queen.  A  good  woman  is  the 
great  promoter  of  good,  and  men  would  be 
brutes  without  them.  The  farmer  who 
does  not  love  and  appreciate  his  wife  does 
not  often  succeed.  Girls  should  try  to  get 
a  good  English  education.  If  you  do  not 
have  a  natural  gift  for  music  do  not  spend 
your  time  trying  to  learn  to  play  the  piano. 
It  is  so  much  precious  time  wasted.  Do 
not  mourn  your  fate  because  you  are  not  a 
rich  man's  daughter,  for  as  a  rule,  they  are 
the  most  unhappy  girls  in  the  world.  The 
farmer's  daughter  is  far  better  off  than 
hundreds  of  daughters  born  in  the  city. 

I  once  knew  a  farmer's  daughter  who  was 
the    oldest    girl    at    home.     She    made    it 


Girls  5 1 

pleasant  for  everyone  who  came  to  her 
father's  home;  she  never  complained,  but 
realized  that  she  had  a  duty  to  perform,  and 
was  anxious  to  do  her  part  in  the  world. 
She  looked  after  the  younger  children  and 
made  them  happy,  and  thereby  gained 
happiness  for  herself.  I  fell  in  love  with 
her,  and  if  the  wealth  of  the  world  had  been 
offered  me  to  forego  the  farmer's  daughter, 
I  should  still  have  taken  the  daughter. 
When  young  men  call,  do  not  be  bashful, 
but  make  them  feel  at  ease.  A  bright  girl, 
though  not  so  pretty,  can  always  win  a  man 
her  equal.  Do  not  feel  above  the  young 
men,  who,  although  plain,  are  industrious 
and  trying  to  build  up  a  character  and  a 
credit.  They  are  far  above  the  men  who 
have  money  and  have  no  motive  in  life. 
Never  marry  if  you  are  not  sure  you  are 
loved,  and  that  the  young  man  has  a  good 
character.  It  is  far  better  to  be  a  single 
woman,  for  they  are  oft  times  the  most 
important  ones  in  the  household. 

There  should  be  some  recreation  for  those 
living  on  a  farm.  The  father  should  supply 
his  wife  and  daughters  with  a  horse  and 


52  Practical      F  arming 

buggy  so  that  they  can  go  to  town  and 
associate  with  their  neighbors. 

KEEPING    BOOKS 

A  farmer  should  always  keep  books  to 
know  just  what  he  is  doing.  Take  an 
inventory  of  everything  on  hand  the  first  of 
January  and  put  it  on  the  left-hand  page; 
under  this  charge  all  purchases  of  stock, 
material,  wages,  and  other  expenses  during 
the  year.  On  the  right  page  credit  all  sales 
of  stock,  products,  etc.,  made  during  the 
year.  Then  take  an  inventory  of  every- 
thing on  hand  Jan.  ist,  following,  and  place 
this  on  the  right-hand  page,  under  the  sales. 
Foot  both  right  and  left  hand  pages,  and 
the  difference  between  the  two  footings  will 
be  the  profits  for  the  year. 

Start  the  next  year's  books  with  the 
inventory  last  taken,  placed  on  the  left- 
hand  page,  and  follow  same  method  of 
charging  and  crediting  as  before.  The 
merchant  who  does  not  keep  his  accounts 
and  sees  what  he  is  doing  generally  goes  to 
the  wall.  It  is  such  a  simple  thing  for  a 
farmer  to  know  what  he  is  doing.     He  has 


Kindness  5  3 


but  a  few  things  to  inventory.  By  keeping 
accurate  accounts  he  will  soon  discover  his 
mistakes,  which  is  a  very  important  thing 
to  know.  I  never  knew  of  but  one  man  who 
did  not  sometimes  make  a  mistake.  That 
was  a  tramp  who  asked  for  some  breakfast. 
I  told  him  if  he  would  split  some  wood  he 
should  have  a  good  breakfast.  He  replied 
that  would  be  the  first  mistake  he  ever 
made — to  work. 

KINDNESS 
I  learned  when  a  boy  that  kindness  pro- 
motes good,  retaliation  evil.  When  I  was 
thirteen  years  old  I  used  to  drive  sheep  and 
lambs,  cows  and  calves  from  Amenia  to 
Poughkeepsie,  thirty  miles,  which  took 
two  days.  An  old  Quaker,  by  the  name  of 
Howland,  had  some  fine  cherry  trees.  I 
used  to  run  up  on  his  steps,  break  the  small 
limbs,  and  steal  his  cherries.  I  was  going 
home  with  a  farmer  by  the  name  of  Kline 
one  day  who  had  a  boy  of  my  age.  We 
asked  Mr.  Kline  if  he  thought  Mr.  Howland 
would  give  us  some  cherries.  He  said 
"yes,"  and  he  drove  up  to  the  house  and 
said  to  Mr.  Howland,'  "The  boys  would  like 


54  Practical    F arming 

to  get  some  cherries."  He  said  to  come 
and  get  all  we  wanted  to  eat,  so  we  climbed 
up  the  trees  and  filled  our  ten-cent  straw 
hats  with  cherries.  When  I  came  down 
Mr.  Howland  put  his  hand  on  top  of  my 
head  and  said,  "Are  you  not  the  boy  who 
drives  sheep  and  runs  in  and  breaks  the 
limbs  of  my  cherry  trees?"  I  said  "yes," 
and  expected  he  would  cuff  or  scold  me,  but 
instead  he  said,  "My  boy,  when  you  come 
along  again,  come  in  and  get  all  you  want, 
but  do  not  break  off  the  limbs  and  steal  the 
cherries."  This  was  a  lesson  to  me  I  have 
never  forgotten.  I  realized  that  his  kind- 
ness had  won  my  respect  and  love.  Had  he 
kicked  me  I  should  always  have  felt  a  spirit 
of  revenge.  This  changed  my  idea  of  life, 
and  set  me  thinking.  Was  it  not  better 
to  do  right,  and  make  friends  rather  than 
enemies?  I  set  out  miles  of  apple  trees  on 
the  side  of  the  road  around  my  farm  in 
remembrance  of  this  grand  old  Quaker. 

SEED 
It  is  just  as  important  to  have  a  good 
seed  corn  as  to  have  a  good  breed  of  cattle. 
To  breed  corn  is  very  simple.     Take  twelve 


How  to  Secure  Seed  Corn  55 

good  selected  ears  of  corn;  plant  one  row 
with  the  corn  from  one  ear,  and  the  next 
row  with  the  corn  from  another  ear.  When 
the  tassels  form,  pull  off  the  tassels  from 
every  other  row,  so  the  row  from  which  the 
tassels  have  been  removed  will  have  to 
breed  from  the  next  row,  and  in  this  way 
the  corn  does  not  inbreed.  Do  this  for  a 
few  years,  and  you  will  have  perfect  corn 
for  seed. 

HOW  TO   SECURE   SEED   CORN 

Pick  your  best  ears  when  they  are  good 
roasting  ears;  leave  the  husks  on  and  hang 
them  up  where  they  will  dry ;  when  planted, 
every  kernel  is  sure  to  come  up,  and  your 
corn  will  be  earlier.  This  is  an  experiment 
I  have  tried,  and  know  it  is  all  right. 

I  think  it  is  important  to  change  your 
oats.  I  find  by  planting  oats  grown  in 
Northern  Wisconsin  that  we  raise  a  better 
crop  of  oats  in  Central  Illinois.  It  is 
always  very  important  to  have  good  seed  of 
all  kinds,  and  I  think  it  a  great  benefit  to 
change  your  seeds  from  the  North  to  the 
South. 


56  Practical    F arming 

MANGEL-WURZELS 

I  think  it  always  pays  to  raise  mangel- 
wurzels  and  have  a  few  beets  to  feed  chick- 
ens in  February.  This  will  increase  your 
egg  crop.  Mangel- wurzels  are  fine  feed  for 
young  growing  pigs  in  September,  October, 
and  November.  They  will  eat  them  with  a 
relish,  with  a  little  green  corn.  You  can 
get  a  big  growth  very  cheap  if  the  ground  is 
properly  prepared,  but  if  the  land  is  weedy, 
better  leave  them  for  the  other  fellow  to 
raise.  A  few  roots  are  always  good  to  give 
to  all  kinds  of  live  stock  in  the  winter. 
Carrots  and  beets  are  better,  but  cost  too 
much  to  raise.  Mangel- wurzels  grow  big 
and  answer  the  purpose  and  are  more  easily 
raised. 

OATS 

Oats  in  Central  Illinois  should  be  sown 
as  early  as  possible.  If  the  ground  can  be 
prepared  in  the  fall,  it  would  be  better  to 
sow  them  in  February,  the  same  as  you  sow 
clover  and  timothy.  The  oat  crop  is  said  to 
be  short  this  year,  but  oats  that  were  sown 
early  are,  apparently,  as  fine  a  crop  as  ever 
grew.     In  Central  Illinois,  particularly,  it 


How  to  Get  Started  in  the  Spring        57 

is  very  important  to  get  your  oats  in  early 
so  they  will  mature  before  the  sun  gets  too 
hot,  and  if  you  wish  to  seed  after  oats,  if 
sown  early  you  are  more  liable  to  get  a  good 
stand  of  timothy  or  clover. 

HOW  TO   GET    STARTED   IN  THE    SPRING 

The  farmer  should  look  over  his  plows 
and  cultivators  in  January  and  see  that 
they  are  all  in  good  condition  so  when  he 
starts  in  the  spring  he  is  not  obliged  to  go 
to  town  and  get  his  tools  repaired.  He 
should  buy  his  groceries  in  February,  and, 
if  he  raises  rye  or  wheat,  it  is  always  well 
to  sow  his  clover  or  timothy  in  February. 
He  should  always  try  to  get  his  oats  and  corn 
in  early.  It  is  said  that  Illinois  will  raise 
only  half  a  crop  of  oats  this  year,  but  the 
farmer  who  got  his  crops  in  the  first  of 
March  appears  to  have  an  advantage.  He 
should  always  try  to  plant  part  of  his  corn 
as  early  as  possible,  as  that  gives  him  a 
chance  to  cultivate  his  early  and  late  corn. 
This  is  one  of  the  drawbacks  of  most 
farmers — they  never  start  early  enough  in 
the  spring.     The  best  crop  of  spring  wheat 


58  Practical    F arming 

I  ever  saw  grow  in  Nebraska  was  sown  in 
February,  and  the  man  never  got  a  chance 
to  drag  it  in.  If  the  ground  is  in  condition 
it  will  always  be  well  to  sow  your  oats  the 
last  of  February. 

ORANGE  COUNTY  BUTTER 

A  farmer  with  1 60  acres  of  land  and  wish- 
ing to  get  the  most  out  of  it,  should  keep  40 
cows  and  make  Orange  County  butter.  If 
good  Illinois  land,  he  should  divide  it 
into  four  fields;  he  would  need  a  barn  60 
feet  long  and  42  feet  wide;  he  should  build 
a  cement  column  and  have  two  iron  rods  in 
this  column,  then  bore  two  holes  in  his 
posts  and  set  the  posts  on  the  cement 
column  and  this  will  hold  them  in  place; 
then  make  a  cement  floor  for  a  foundation 
and  feed  the  cows  from  the  sides  of  the  barn. 

He  would  probably  have  to  have  stan- 
chions for  his  cows,  but  only  to  keep  them 
in  while  being  milked.  Give  them  a  chance 
to  walk  around  and  lie  down  in  comfort. 
Have  a  yard  on  the  outside  where  the  cows 
can  get  water  and  get  in  the  sun.  Orange 
County  butter  is  made  in  this  way:  Set  the 


Orange  County  Butter  59 

milk  in  pans  or  tin  pails ;  churn  the  milk  and 
cream — one  ought  to  have  some  power  to 
do  the  churning;  when  the  butter  forms, 
put  butter  and  all  in  a  long  trough,  a  foot 
wide,  made  of  good  oak,  and  have  a  stream 
of  good  well  water  running  through  it. 
Work  the  butter  very  carefully  with  your 
hands  so  as  to  wash  out  the  buttermilk.  If 
worked  with  a  ladle  it  will  make  the  butter 
salvy,  but  if  made  in  this  way,  with  the 
buttermilk  taken  out,  and  with  a  little  salt, 
the  butter  will  keep  sweet  a  long  time,  and 
will   always  bring  the  highest  price. 

To  keep  your  cows  in  the  barn  the  year 
round,  you  would  have  to  have  40  acres  of 
clover  fenced  off.  The  cows  would  eat  1 5 
acres  of  green  clover,  leaving  20  acres  of 
clover  for  hay  that  should  be  made  and  put 
in  small  cocks;  get  some  common  sheeting 
soaked  in  oil  and  put  on  top  of  the  cocks; 
let  the  hay  set  a  day  or  two  before  putting  it 
in  the  barn,  and  in  this  way  you  will  have 
fine  clover  hay.  You  would  have  to  sow  five 
acres  in  peas  in  drills  about  three  inches 
deep.  Just  before  the  peas  come  up  sow 
one-half  bushel  of  oats.     Drag  it  in  on  top 


60  Practical    F arming 

of  the  peas.  After  you  have  fed  your  green 
clover  this  will  make  the  best  feed,  cut 
green,  for  the  cows;  it  makes  the  best  hay 
for  cows  in  the  winter,  and  they  will  give 
more  milk  fed  on  green  peas  and  oats  than 
any  other  feed  you  can  give  them.  You 
would  have  to  raise  five  acres  of  sweet  corn 
to  feed  after  the  peas  are  gone.  To  winter 
your  cows  you  would  have  to  cut  your  corn 
stalks ;  after  they  are  cut  up,  put  them  in  a 
tank  and  pour  hot  water  over  them;  put 
a  little  bran  on  top  to  keep  the  heat  in,  and 
you  will  have  some  warm  feed  for  your  cows 
in  the  morning.  You  will  have  70  acres 
for  corn,  40  acres  for  clover,  and  40  acres 
for  rye. 
40  cows,  300  lbs.  of  butter  to  one  cow    $2,400 

100  hogs  to  sell 1,200 

70  acres  of  corn,  sell  3,000  bushels .  .       1,260 
40  acres  of  rye,  1,200  bushels 600 


$5,460 

You  should  raise  a  few  calves  from  your 

cows  to  replenish  the  cows  that  are  worn 

out.     When  you  get  your  brand  of  butter 

established,   you  should  get   30  cents  per 


Working  People  61 

pound  for  it,  and  ought  to  get  300  pounds 
of  butter  to  a  cow  kept  in  this  way. 

WORKING   PEOPLE 

The  laboring  man  living  in  the  country 
would  never  be  poor  if  willing  to  work  and 
use  a  little  economy.  His  opportunities  are 
so  much  better  than  those  of  the  people 
living  in  the  city,  for  the  laboring  man  in  the 
city  must  buy  everything,  while  the  man 
in  the  country  can  own  a  cow,  pigs,  chick- 
ens, and  have  a  garden,  which  is  half  of  his 
living.  Wages  are  higher  in  the  city,  but 
what  have  the  city  people?  They  are 
obliged  to  rent  a  house  which  costs  five 
times  as  much  as  a  house  in  the  country,  and 
everything  they  use  must  be  bought  at 
double  the  price,  and  stale  at  that.  Their 
chances  to  save  up  any  money  are  very 
slim.  They  don't  work  as  many  hours, 
but  work  much  harder  and  faster  when  they 
do,  and  when  out  of  a  job,  expenses  go  on. 
In  the  country  a  man  is  never  out  of  work. 
The  laboring  man  in  the  country  is  always 
respected  by  every  one  and  not  tempted  to 
spend  all  he  gets.     A  girl  working  for  a 


62  Practical    F arming 

farmer's  wife  is  always  respected,  which  is 
far  better  than  living  in  the  city  where 
people  don't  know  their  next  neighbor. 
WHEAT 
The  soil  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  is  spongy 
and  the  wheat  is  liable  to  freeze  out  when 
put  in  shallow;  it  should  be  drilled  in  deep. 
If  the  wheat  is  sowed  shallow,  the  March 
winds  dry  it  and  blow  the  dirt  from  the 
roots  and  injure  the  wheat.  Generally,  we 
raise  a  good  crop  of  wheat  if  we  have  a  wet 
March.  I  know  of  a  farmer  in  Nebraska 
who  always  raises  a  good  crop  of  winter 
wheat,  but  he  always  drills  it  in  as  deeply  as 
possible.  He  says  it  can  be  drilled  in  four 
inches  deep  and  will  come  up  all  right,  but 
the  land  should  be  well  cultivated  and  pul- 
verized, and  in  this  condition,  the  wheat 
can  be  drilled  in  deep.  A  good  way  to 
raise  wheat  is  to  plant  corn  \\  feet  apart  in 
drills,  and  drill  wheat  in  the  corn  not  later 
than  the  15th  of  September. 

HOW   TO   THRIVE    ON    FORTY   ACRES 

OF   LAND 
Forty  acres  of  good,  well  tiled  land,  with 
a  comfortable  house,  a  good  horse  barn  for 


How  to  Thrive  on  40  Acres  of  Land     63 

three  horses,  a  cow  barn  30  by  30  feet,  with 
a  15-foot  loft  to  store  corn  fodder  in,  ten 
cows,  ten  brood  sows,  all  other  necessary 
stock,  tools,  etc.,  ought  to  be  bought  for 
$10,000.  The  cow  barn  should  have  a 
cement  floor.  Buy  one  carload  of  bone 
meal  as  a  starter.  Two  acres  for  a  house 
and  barn  and  two  acres  for  a  garden  leaves 
thirty-six  acres  to  be  divided  into  four 
plots.  Raise  sixteen  acres  of  corn,  planted 
in  drills  4J  feet  apart,  and  drop  a  kernel 
every  nine  inches.  Have  two  acres  in 
drilled  corn  to  cut  to  feed  the  cows  in 
August  and  September.  Nine  acres  of  the 
corn  would  have  to  be  seeded  with  clover 
and  timothy  the  last  plowing,  and  fence  off 
five  acres  of  clover  temporarily  for  a  hog 
pasture.  This  would  leave  four  acres  to 
mow  and  soil  cows  on  in  the  summer. 
Cows  can  be  kept  in  a  barn  in  the  summer 
as  well  as  winter  with  a  small  yard  on  the 
outside.  Buy  an  old  straw  stack  for  bed- 
ding for  the  cows  and  about  ten  tons  of 
phosphate  rock  to  mix  with  the  manure  or 
put  in  the  cow  barn.  With  this  you  would 
make  manure  enough  to  cover  ten  acres 


64  Practical    Farming 

each  year.  The  five  acres  of  clover  pasture 
with  the  hogs  would  be  very  rich.  In  this 
way  you  would  manure  one-third  of  the 
land  every  year.  Sixteen  acres  should 
raise  1,600  bushels  to  feed  the  hogs,  horses, 
and  cows;  seven  acres  in  cabbage,  two 
acres  in  mangel-wurzel  beets,  to  feed  to 
young  hogs  in  September  and  October  and 
have  some  for  the  hogs  in  the  winter. 

10  cows  should  produce $    600 

50  hogs  should  produce 500 

7  acres  of  cabbage 1,050 

Chickens 200 

$2,350 

Labor $400 

20  tons  phosphate  rock 120 

Family  expenses 830        1,350 

Leaving  a  net  profit  of $1,000 

The  farmer  would  not  be  as  rich  as 
Rockefeller  and  could  not  play  golf.  He 
would  get  his  exercise  in  his  corn  fields 
and  on  his  farm,  but  he  would  be  a  rich 
man  compared  with  the  average  of  mankind, 
and  he  would  be  independent.     If  he  had 


How  to  Thrive  on  40  Acres  of  Land     65 

a  good  garden,  he  would  live  as  well  as  any 
man.  He  would  have  to  work,  but  occupa- 
tion is  happiness.  It  would  be  320  rods 
around  his  40  acres,  but  he  would  need  no 
fences.  He  could  plant  250  sour  cherry 
trees,  and  if  well  sprayed  and  cared  for, 
they  should  produce  $400  in  a  few  years. 
He  ought  to  raise  ten  tons  of  cabbage  on  an 
acre,  and  it  is  always  worth  $15  per  ton. 
If  he  knew  how  to  make  sour  krout,  he 
could  get  $300  per  acre.  The  smart  man 
might  say,  "Why  not  plant  it  all  to  cab- 
bage?" But  in  that  way  he  would  soon  raise 
very  poor  cabbage  and  have  no  manure  to 
mix  with  his  fertilizer  and  keep  his  land 
rich.  He  should  have  ten  coops  for  his 
hogs  and  always  have  the  pigs  come  in  not 
later  than  the  first  of  March  and  have 
plenty  of  soft  coal  on  hand  for  them  to  eat. 

SOFT   COAL   FOR   HOGS 

The  object  of  feeding  soft  coal  to  hogs  is 
to  keep  them  in  a  healthy  condition  and 
free  from  worms.  Hogs  will  eat  common 
screenings  if  you  put  a  little  salt  on  them. 
The  sulphur  in  the  coal  is  what  helps  the 


66  Practical    Farming 

hogs.  My  son  fed  105  tons  of  soft  coal  to 
his  hogs  last  winter  and  they  were  always 
healthy.  Soft  coal  is  a  cheap  preventative 
of  diseases. 

He  should  feed  the  pigs  a  little  slop  so 
after  three  weeks  they  would  learn  to  eat, 
and  the  hogs  would  be  ready  to  sell  in 
December.  He  might  be  a  little  short  of 
hay  for  his  horses,  but  if  he  is  a  hustler, 
he  could  get  hay  on  shares  from  some  of  his 
neighbors.  The  sixteen  acres  of  corn  cut 
up  with  a  corn  cutter  would  winter  his  cows. 

HOW  TO  GET  A  START 
The  young  man  says,  "This  is  all  right 
for  the  man  who  has  his  own  farm,  but  what 
am  I  to  do  ?  I  have  nothing  but  my  hands 
and  good  health."  I  will  tell  you.  Hire 
out  to  some  farmer,  by  the  year,  for  $250 
and  board;  save  $200  of  it  and  deposit  it  in 
a  good  bank  until  you  can  invest  it  safely. 
Keep  on  until  you  have  $1,500  saved,  and 
then  rent  a  farm.  You  would  then  have 
a  character  and  credit,  and  would  have  no 
trouble  in  renting  a  farm.  With  good 
health,  nothing  could  prevent  you  from 
owning  a  farm.  Get  married  when  you 
have  enough  to  start  r#  life  with. 


How  I  Got  Started  in  the  World  67 

HOW   I    GOT   STARTED    IN   THE   WORLD 

In  1849,  when  I  was  21  years  old,  I  owned 
three  horses,  a  lumber  wagon,  five  cows, 
eighty  sheep,  and  ten  brood  sows.  I 
rented  a  farm  comprising  120  acres,  20 
acres  in  timber  and  20  acres  in  stumps  and 
stone,  but  very  good  pasture  land,  which 
left  80  acres  of  plow  land.  I  took  posses- 
sion of  this  farm  in  February.  The  manure 
had  not  been  hauled  out  of  this  farm  for 
four  or  five  years,  so  I  hauled  it  out  the  last 
of  February  and  first  of  March.  I  raised 
40  acres  of  corn,  20  acres  of  barley,  10 
acres  of  oats,  and  10  acres  of  clover,  and 
kept  80  sheep.  I  sowed  my  barley  and 
oats  the  last  of  March  and  broke  20  acres  of 
my  sod  for  corn.  We  did  not  have  very 
good  tools  in  those  days,  but  I  cultivated 
this  land  well  and  furrowed  it  out  with  a 
one-horse  cast  iron  plow,  3 J  feet  apart  each 
way.  I  had  an  Irish  boy  working  for  me 
at  $9  per  month  and  hired  a  boy  at  25 
cents  per  day  to  drop  the  corn.  I  soaked 
the  corn  every  night  in  warm  water;  took 
some  tar  and  boiling  water;  coated  the 
corn  with  a  little  tar  rolled  in  plaster  and 


68  Practical    F arming 

set  it  back  on  the  stove  to  sprout;  while 

the  boys  were  planting   one    20   acres,    I 

broke    the    other    20    acres,    and   was    all 

through  planting  before  my  neighbors  got 

started. 

40  acres  corn,  50  bu.  to  the  acre, 

2,000  bu $1,300 

20   acres  barley,   40  bu.   per  acre, 

800  bu.  at  60  cents 480 

Sold  40  stock  hogs 240 

Sold  15  steers  at  Christmas  at  $100 

per  head 1,500 

Sold  products  of  80  sheep 240 


$3,760 


Bought  15  steers  at  $60  apiece, 
got  them  home  the  first  of 
Oct.,  fed  them  pumpkins, 
topped  my  corn,  and  fed  them 
green  corn  through  October.  .  .$900 
Fed  them  400  bu.  corn  through 

November  and  December 260 

Rent 260 

One  hired    man  for  9  mos.,    at 

$10  per  mo. . 90 

Extra  help 60 

Household  expenses 150 

1,720 


Profit $2,040 


The  Farmer's  Political  Duties  69 

THE  FARMER'S  POLITICAL  DUTIES 
I  have  always  believed  that  the  success 
of  this  great  Republic  depends  largely  upon 
the  intelligence  of  the  American  farmer,  as 
great  cities  become  more  or  less  demoralized, 
and  are  always  scheming  to  obtain  some- 
thing for  nothing,  advocating  socialism, 
and  Municipal  and  Government  Ownership, 
which  would  concentrate  the  powers  of  the 
Government.  The  party  in  power  would 
always  remain  in  power;  the  people  would 
lose  the  benefit  of  the  elective  franchise, 
and  thus  destroy  the  principles  this  Govern- 
ment was  founded  on,  viz.:  Individual 
rights  with  reciprocal  duties.  In  fact,  we 
would  soon  be  a  Government  as  arbitrary 
as  the  Russian  Government.  The  man  in 
power  would  wield  so  great  an  influence 
that  he  could  not  be  removed.  With 
Municipal  Ownership  of  street  railroads, 
waterworks,  and  gas  plants  the  employees 
would  all  have  to  be  politicians.  They 
would  control  a  power  greater  than  money. 
They,  of  course,  all  have  friends,  and  when 
we  have  an  election  they  would  say,  "If 
we  don't  elect  the  party  in  power  we  will 


70  Practical    Farming 

lose  our  jobs,"  and  in  this  way  they  would 
control  every  election.  The  same  with 
Government  Ownership.  An  ambitious 
President  of  the  United  States  would  have 
the  power  to  renominate  himself.  As  it  is 
to-day,  he  may  not  be  elected;  but  give 
him  control  of  all  the  railroads  and  he 
would  elect  himself. 

We  better  stand  by  the  principles  our 
forefathers  laid  down:  "Give  every  man 
a  chance  to  do  something,"  to  build  up 
some  industry,  something  that  would  bene- 
fit mankind,  instead  of  making  every  man 
subject  to  the  dictation  of  someone  in 
power.  I  fully  realize  the  danger  of  con- 
centrating the  powers  of  this  great  free 
country  into  a  few  men's  hands,  and  I 
believe  every  man  who  loves  the  principles 
of  our  country  has  a  duty  to  do  in  trying 
to  prevent  this.  Abraham  Lincoln  said  our 
Government  is  "a  Government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  and  for  the  people."  If  we 
had  Government  Ownership  and  Municipal 
Ownership,  the  party  in  power  would 
remain  in  power.  Would  it  then  be  a 
Government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 


The  Farmer  s  Political  Duties  71 

and  for  the  people?  Would  it  not  become 
an  arbitrary  Government  controlled  by  a 
few  who  are  in  power?  I  think  it  is  wise 
to  shun  political  parties  who  advocate 
Government  Ownership  and  Municipal 
control,  if  we  wish  to  have  a  free  Govern- 
ment controlled  by  the  people. 

I  think  the  farmers  should  take  a  great 
interest  in  politics.  The  politician  who 
tries  to  divide  our  people  into  classes  by 
appealing  to  prejudices  and  jealousies  is  a 
dangerous  man.  I  have  heard  men  say 
that  a  national  debt  is  a  national  blessing. 
But  a  nation  in  debt  is  not  different  from  a 
farmer  in  debt,  for  the  debt  must  be  paid. 
In  the  old  world  at  least  one-half  the  peo- 
ple's earnings  or  income  must  go  to  the 
Government ;  consequently,  it  is  hard  for  a 
young  man  to  get  started  in  life  in  his  own 
country.  The  bright  ones  generally  come 
to  our  country.  We  now  have  politicians 
clamoring  for  Government  Ownership  and 
Government  control.  What  will  the  result 
be?  A  great  national  debt  will  be  piled  up. 
As  an  illustration,  think  what  it  costs  the 
Government  to  do  any  public  work.     The 


72  Practical    F arming 

Government  has  been  fifteen  years  digging 
the  Hennepin  Canal,  which  is  only  ninety 
miles  long  and  sixty  feet  wide — and  no  boat 
can  draw  over  four  feet — and  is  costing 
millions  of  dollars. 

The  farmers  of  Henry  County  are  digging 
a  ditch  22  miles  long,  ioo  feet  wide,  and  n 
feet  deep  for  $400,000.  They  could  have 
dug  the  Hennepin  Canal  in  two  years  for 
one-fourth  the  amount  it  will  cost  the 
Government  to  do  the  work.  Politicians 
are  circulating  a  petition  to  get  Congress  to 
appropriate  money  to  build  a  ship  canal 
down  the  Illinois  River,  which  would  fill  up 
with  sand  every  spring  and  be  another 
Hennepin  Canal,  and  practically  of  no  use 
to  anyone. 

Canals  are  obsolete.  Every  intelligent 
man  knows  that  a  double-track  electric 
freight  railroad,  to  run  at  the  rate  of  twenty 
miles  per  hour,  would  haul  the  products 
from  Chicago  to  New  Orleans  for  less  than  it 
would  cost  to  tow  a  barge  up  the  river 
against  the  current.  A  double-track  elec- 
tric road  would  not  cost  one-tenth  as  much 
as  a  ship  canal,  and  this  would  be  business 


The  Farmer's  Political  Duties  73 

— not  sentiment.  When  they  had  the  vship 
canal  completed,  costing  untold  millions, 
with  its  locks  and  water-power,  people 
would  want  bread.  The  locks  would  pro- 
hibit the  reclaiming  of  millions  of  acres  of 
the  richest  land  in  the  world.  These  locks 
would  have  to  come  out. 

A  great  national  debt  means  taxation. 
Government  Ownership  and  Government 
control  means  that  the  individual  energy  of 
the  nation  will  be  broken.  We  would  be 
retrograding — would  be  a  nation  of  tax- 
payers controlled  by  Government  officials, 
and  our  individual  independence  would  be 
destroyed. 

The  great  men  of  our  nation  have  been 
running  our  Government  on  sentiment  for 
the  last  ten  years.  Out  of  sentiment  we 
commenced  war  with  Spain  to  defend 
Cuba.  We  spent  millions  and  sacrificed  the 
lives  of  our  soldiers,  and,  through  sentiment, 
said  to  Cuba,  "You  may  have  your  inde- 
pendence." An  English  statesman  would 
have  said,  "You  may  get  under  the  old  flag 
and  be  one  of  us,  but  if  you  wish  to  be  an 
independent    nation,    you    must    give    us 


74  Practical    Farming 

bonds  for  what  we  have  spent  in  defending 
you."  We  should  possess  Cuba  for  a 
national  defense,  but  can  we  afford  to  spend 
millions  to  protect  it  when  it  is  of  no  use  to 
us  during  a  war  ?  We  bought  the  Philippine 
Islands,  and  are  now  spending  $50,000,000 
to  educate  its  people,  some  of  whom  have 
twenty  wives,  which  means  a  good  many 
children  for  us  to  educate.  We  did  not 
need  the  Philippine  Islands — far  better 
for  us  to  take  care  of  our  own  people.  In 
our  large  cities  no  less  than  100,000  -boys 
(brought  into  the  world  by  degenerate 
parents,  and  raised  in  crime,  sorrow,  and 
hunger)  are  arretted  yearly — and  we  send 
them  to  reformatory  prisons  to  be  pushed 
on  downward.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  our 
land  is  filled  with  criminals? 

We  are  spending  millions  to  build  the 
Panama  Canal.  It  will  probably  take  forty 
years  to  build  it,  and  it  will  cost  one  thou- 
sand millions  of  dollars.  This  is  being  done 
by  public  sentiment— not  good  judgment. 
We  could  build  good  docks  on  each  side, 
with  proper  facilities  for  loading,  unloading, 
and  transporting  the  products  across  the 


Select  Yonr  Representatives'  Carefully      75. 

isthmus,  for  one-tenth  of  what  it  will  cost 
with  a  lock  canal. 

We  may  stand  it  now  that  we  are  young 
and  rich,  but  future  generations  will  have 
to  pay  the  debt.  If  we  continue  to  run  the 
nation  on  sentiment,  we  will  burden  our- 
selves with  such  a  national  debt  that  a 
farmer  will  not  be  able  to  buy  a  plow  with- 
out having  the  Government  stamp  on  it, 
and  we  will  have  a  nation  filled  with  Govern- 
ment officials  to  collect  taxes. 

SELECT    YOUR    REPRESENTATIVES 
CAREFULLY 

Every  man  who  loves  the  success  of  this 
great  Republic — a  land  of  equal  rights  to  all 
— must  see  that  professional  politicians  are 
not  the  right  men  to  administer  the  affairs 
of  this  nation.  The  judges  who  have 
served  the  people  faithfully  for  fifteen  to 
twenty  years  are  the  ones  who  should  be 
honored  by  being  sent  to  the  Senate  and  the 
House  of  Representatives. 


76  Practical  F arming 


CORN   BREAD 

One  cup  and  a  half  of  white  cornmeal; 
a  pinch  of  salt,  and  butter  the  size  of  a 
large  walnut;  pour  on  boiling  water,  and 
stir  until  you  have  a  thick  batter ;  then  drop 
in  the  yolks  of  three  eggs  and  the  beaten 
whites;  add  a  teaspoonful  of  baking  pow- 
der.    Bake  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 


ILLINOIS  SOILS  IN  RELATION  TO  SYSTEMS 
OF  PERMANENT  AGRICULTURE 

BY  CYRIL  G.  HOPKINS 


UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station 


URBANA.  FEBRUARY,  1907 
CIRCULAR    NO.    108 


ILLINOIS  SOILS  IN  RELATION  TO  SYSTEMS 
OF  PERMANENT  AGRICULTURE  * 

BY  CYRIL  G.  HOPKINS 

To  permanently  maintain  profitable  systems  of 
agriculture  is  our  most  important  material  problem, 
not  only  in  Illinois,  but  in  the  United  States  of 
America.  It  is  necessary  that  agriculture  as  an 
industry  shall  be  self-supporting,  and  agriculture 
must  in  large  measure  support  our  other  important 
industries.  Every  form  of  agriculture  rests  pri- 
marily upon  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  whether  it  be 
grain  farming,  fruit  growing,  dairying,  or  live-stock 
husbandry. 

Some  small  countries  can  derive  their  support 
largely  by  conducting  commerce  and  "manufacture 
for  other  countries,  being  enabled  from  the  profits 
of   their   enterprise   to   purchase   food   and   other 

*  An    address   read   before   the    Illinois   State    Farmers'    Institute    at 
Quincy,  February  20,   1907. 


8o  Practical    Farming 

necessities  from  their  colonies  or  from  other  agri- 
cultural countries;  and  some  forms  of  intensive 
agriculture,  as  market  gardening,  can  be  supported 
in  restricted  areas  by  the  waste  fertilizing  materials 
from  nearby  cities,  but  we  may  well  remind  our- 
selves that  the  American  Nation  and  the  general 
agriculture  of  America  must  be  self-supporting; 
for  we  can  never  hope  to  draw  upon  our  colonies, 
nor  upon  other  countries  for  our  support. 

If  we  succeed  in  Illinois  in  discovering,  and  in 
demonstrating,  and  in  practicing,  permanent  sys- 
tems of  profitable  agriculture,  this  State  will  be  the 
first  example  in  the  history  of  the  world  to  adopt 
agricultural  methods  that  will  maintain  the  fertility 
of  the  soil  without  the  purchase  of  food  and  ferti- 
lizer from  foreign  countries. 

Rapid  Land  Ruin 
Among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  the  United 
States  stands  first  in  rapidity  of  soil  exhaustion. 
The  improvement  of  seed,  the  use  of  tile  drainage, 
the  invention  and  immediate  adoption  of  labor- 
saving  agricultural  machinery,  the  wonderful 
development  of  cheap  and  rapid  means  of  trans- 
portation, and  the  opening  of  the  world's  markets 
to  the  American  farmer,  have  all  combined  to 
make  possible  and  to  encourage  the  rapid  depletion 
of  American  soils,  until  agricultural  ruin  already 
exists,  practically,  over  vast  areas  in  the  older 
parts  of  this  new  country,  the  United  States  of 
America,  while  it  is  common  knowledge  that  even 


Rapid  Land  Ruin  81 

in  this  new  rich  State  of  Illinois  the  lands  that  have 
been  under  cultivation  for  half  or  three-quarters  of 
a  century  are  much  less  productive  now  than  they 
once  were. 

In  our  prosperity  and  abundance  we  almost  for- 
get the  present  famine  in  Russia;*  can  scarcely 
realize  that  much  of  the  time  more  people  are  hun- 
gry in  India  than  live  in  the  United  States;  and 
will  not  remember  to-morrow  the  call  of  to-day  from 
President  Roosevelt  and  from  our  state  governors 
for  help  to  relieve  the  widespread  famine  and  actual 
starvation  now  existing  in  China.  Meanwhile, 
shall  we  go  on,  as  a  people,  ignorant ly,  carelessly, 
or  wantonly  robbing  our  soil  of  its  fertility  and 
American  posterity  and  our  children  of  a  rightful 
heritage  ? 

The  almost  universal  practice  of  the  civilized 
world  to  this  date  has  been  to  ruin  land,  and  then 
to  seek  out  newer  lands  on  which  to  repeat  the  proc- 

*  Kazan,  Russia,  Feb.  20 — "The  correspondent  of  the  Associated 
Press  has  returned  here  after  a  twenty-five  days'  trip  through  Kazan, 
Samara,  and  Ufa,  three  sample  provinces  of  the  twenty  affected  by  the 
famine.  The  correspondent  investigated  the  situation  in  all  directions, 
traveling  500  miles  by  sleigh  in  districts  remote  from  railroads  where  the 
distress  is  most  acute. 

"The  population  everywhere  was  found  absolutely  dependent  on 
outside  relief.  The  present  state  of  affairs  is  characterized  by  slow 
starvation  and  extreme  misery.  The  government's  allowance  of  36 
pounds  of  rye  per  person,  per  month,  is  most  inadequate  and  this 
amount  is  cut  by  18  or  20  pounds  by  the  cost  of  transportation  and 
milling.  Men  and  even  women  between  18  and  55  are  excluded  from 
receiving  the  government  ration.  In  the  province  of  Ufa  there  is 
scarcely  half  the  quantity  of  grain  necessary  for  ordinary  subsistence  of 
the  people,  and  peasants  are  in  such  weakened  physical  condition  as  the 
result  of  succession  of  bad  harvests  that  supplementary  assistance  is 
necessary  for  thousands  to  make  it  possible  for  them  to  survive  until 
spring  and  have  strength  enough  to  plant  their  new  crop.  The  reports 
from  other  districts  are  practically  the  same,  the  burden  of  all  being 
intense  suffering  and  gloomy  outlook  for  the  future."  (From  a  dis- 
patch in  the  daily  newspapers  of  February  20,  1907.) 


Practical    Farming 


ess  even  more  quickly.  There  is  extreme  poverty 
among  the  people  of  the  world  almost  wherever 
they  are  dependent  for  support  upon  the  agri- 
cultural resources  of  ordinary  land  that  has  been 
under  cultivation  for  two  centuries. 

I  repeat  that,  if  it  is  possible,  and  if  we  shall  suc- 
ceed in  Illinois  in  discovering  and  adopting  into 
general  agricultural  practice  systems  of  farming 
that  will  restore  our  soils  to  their  virgin  fertility  and 
permanently  maintain  a  high  productive  capacity 
for  these  Illinois  lands,  it  will  be  the  first  time  for 
this  to  be  accomplished  anywhere  in  the  world  over 
such  an  area. 

If  we  are  ever  to  adopt  systems  of  soil  improve- 
ment it  must  be  done  while  we  are  prosperous. 
People  living  in  poverty  on  impoverished  lands 
have  no  money  to  invest  in  the  improvement  of 
their  farms,  no  matter  how  great  returns  such  in- 
vestments would  promise  in  future  years.  Soils 
that  have  been  running  down  for  a  century  cannot 
be  built  up  economically  in  a  year,  so  as  to  pay  an 
immediate  profit  on  the  improvements. 

While  many  Illinois  farmers  are  already  begin- 
ning to  adopt  methods  of  permanent  soil  improve- 
ment, by  far  the  most  common  practice  in  the 
State,  if  continued,  must  inevitably  result  in  land 
ruin.  The  only  kind  of  soil  treatment  in  common 
use  that  is  even  believed  to  benefit  the  soil  is  crop 
rotation,  including  an  occasional  clover  crop.  It  is 
a  fact,  however,  that  crop  rotation  is  a  means  of 


Rapid  Land  Ruin  83 

depleting  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  clover  used  in 
this  way  in  grain  farming  serves  only  as  a  most 
powerful  soil  stimulant,  leaving  the  soil  poorer  with 
every  passing  rotation  until  crop  yields  become 
reduced,  clover  being  the  first  crop  to  fail  in  this 
system.  It  is  at  this  point  in  the  process  of  soil 
depletion  that  land  values  usually  begin  to  decrease, 
and  as  a  rule  this  decrease  is  rapid.  Under  the 
successful  clover  system  of  grain  farming  the  land- 
owner may  receive  one-half  of  a  sixty-bushel  crop 
of  corn,  which  at  35  cents  a  bushel  will  provide  50 
cents  an  acre  for  taxes  and  still  leave  $10  an  acre, 
which  is  sufficient  to  pay  five  per  cent  interest  on 
$200  land.  But  ten  or  twenty  years  after  the 
clover  system  fails,  the  landowner  may  be  receiving 
only  one-third  of  thirty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre, 
which  with  the  same  price  and  taxes  would  leave 
him  only  $3.00  an  acre,  or  sufficient  to  pay  five 
per  cent  interest  on  $60  land. 

There  are  now  on  file  in  my  office  at  the  Univer- 
sity about  ten  thousand  letters  relating  to  soils, 
written  by  Illinois  farmers  and  landowners  during 
the  past  six  years.  From  this  mass  of  corre- 
spondence alone,  I  feel  that  I  know  the  opinion  of 
the  most  progressive  and  observing  farmers  in 
Illinois  regarding  the  tendency  of  crop  yields  under 
present  systems  of  farming.  The  following  extract 
is  taken  from  a  letter  received  from  Plainfield, 
Illinois,  since  the  preceding  paragraph  was  written  : 

"Will  County  is  a  rich  agricultural  part  of  Illinois, 
naturally ;  but  fifty  to  sixty  years  of  cropping,  with 


84  Practical    Farming 

no  systematic  and  scientific  effort  to  keep  up  soil 
fertility,  has  resulted  in  a  decrease  in  yield  of  crops 
from  25  to  35  per  cent.  If  this  continues  another 
generation,  it  will  be  proportionately  worse,  and 
farms  now  held  at  $125  to  $150  per  acre  will  be 
held  at  $65  to  $80,  of  necessity." 

Plant  Food  in  Rich  Soils 

Lands  that  are  valuable  produce  large  crops. 
Soils  that  produce  large  crops  are  rich  soils.  Rich 
soils  contain  a  large  store  of  plant  food.  If  we  are 
to  maintain  Illinois  lands  in  a  high  state  of  pro- 
ductiveness and  at  a  high  value,  we  must  maintain 
in  our  soils  a  large  supply  of  every  essential  element 
of  plant  food. 

It  is  worth  while  to  remember  that  there  are 
ten  essential  elements  of  plant  food.  If  the 
supply  of  any  one  of  these  elements  fails  the  crop 
will  fail.  These  ten  elements  are  carbon  and  oxy- 
gen, taken  into  the  leaves  of  the  plant  from  the  air 
as  carbon  dioxid;  hydrogen,  a  constituent  of  water, 
absorbed  through  the  plant  roots;  nitrogen,  taken 
from  the  soil  by  all  plants  and  also  secured  from  the 
air  by  legumes;  potassium,  phosphorus,  mag- 
nesium, calcium,  iron,  and  sulfur,  all  of  which  are 
secured  only  from  the  soil. 

The  soil  nitrogen  is  contained  in  the  organic 
matter,  or  humus,  and  to  maintain  the  supply  of 
nitrogen  we  should  keep  the  soil  well  stored  with 
organic  matter,  making  liberal  use  of  clover  or 
other  legumes  which  have  power  to  secure  nitrogen 


Plant  Food  in  Rich  Soils  85 

from  the  inexhaustible  supply  in  the  air,  the  clover 
being  plowed  under  either  directly  or  as  a  farm 
manure. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  an  acre  of  soil 
seven  inches  deep,  if  it  possessed  the  average  com- 
position of  the  earth's  crust,  would  contain  suffi- 
cient iron  to  meet  the  needs  of  one  hundred  bushels 
of  corn  every  year  for  240,000  years,  sufficient 
calcium  for  61,000  years,  magnesium  for  7,600 
years,  sulfur  for  2,100  years,  and  potassium  for 
2,400  years,  but  sufficient  phosphorus  for  only  120 
years. 

These  numbers  are  based  upon  the  average  com- 
position of  the  earth's  crust,  as  estimated  by  Pro- 
fessor F.  W.  Clarke  of  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey.  They  are  certainly  significant  to  the  stu- 
dent of  soil  fertility,  although  perhaps  no  soil 
possesses  exactly  the  average  composition  of  the 
entire  crust  of  the  earth. 

It  is  also  of  interest  to  know  that  the  nitrogen 
resting  on  an  acre  of  the  earth's  surface  is  sufficient 
for  100  bushels  of  corn  every  year  for  700,000  years, 
although  the  nitrogen  contained  in  the  plowed  soil 
of  an  acre  is  rarely  sufficient  for  more  than  fifty 
such  crops. 

Only  two  essential  elements  of  plant  food  are 
becoming  deficient  in  ordinary  Illinois  soils.  These 
are  nitrogen  and  phosphorus,  neither  of  which  is 
contained  in  the  plowed  soil  of  our  commonest 
lands  in  larger  quantity  than  would  be  required  for 
maximum  crops  during  the  full  time  of  one  life. 


86  Practical    Farming 

There  are  some  soils  whose  fertility  can  be  main- 
tained at  low-yielding  power  by  crop  rotation  alone. 
This  is  on  sloping  land  whose  surface  soil  is  washed 
away  at  least  as  rapidly  as  the  fertility  is  removed 
by  crops  and  whose  subsoil  is  as  rich  or  richer  than 
the  surface  in  mineral  plant  food. 

I  have  found  some  places  where  soils  of  this 
topography,  with  subsoils  rich  in  mineral  plant 
food,  have  been  cropped  for  centuries  with  the  pro- 
duction of  two  or  three  grain  crops  every  ten  or 
twelve  years,  the  intervening  years  providing  for 
the  accumulation  of  nitrogen  by  legumes  while  the 
land  is  kept  in  pasture.  These  lands  are  valued  at 
about  $10  to  $20  an  acre  and  so  far  as  I  can  see 
this  value  can  be  maintained  indefinitely  without 
the  application  of  farm  manures  or  other  plant  food 
materials. 

But  I  cannot  comprehend  how  it  is  possible  to 
maintain  the  common  Illinois  prairie  and  level 
upland  timber  soils  at  their  present  value  and  pro- 
ductive power  if  we  continue  to  remove  from  these 
lands  larger  amounts  of  phosphorus  and  nitrogen 
than  are  returned. 

During  the  past  year  I  have  had  some  very  inter- 
esting correspondence  with  Doctor  W.  E.  Macklin 
of  Nankin,  China,  who  has  spent  many  years  of 
his  life  as  a  student  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  con- 
ditions. 

On  September  1,  1906,  I  wrote  Doctor  Macklin 
as  follows: 


OF  THE 


Plant  Food  in  Rich  Soils  87 

"It  would  also  be  of  much  interest  and  value  to 
me  to  learn  the  conditions  on  approximately  level 
upland  plains — lands  which  are  not  subject  to 
erosion  by  surface  washing  and  which  do  not  re- 
ceive deposits  of  soil  material  washed  from  higher 
lands.  If  there  are  such  lands  in  China,  it  seems 
to  me  that  if  they  have  been  cultivated  for 
thou  sands  of  years  and  the  crops  largely  removed 
they  must  have  become  exceedingly  unproductive.  " 

On  October  6,  1906,  Doctor  Macklin  replied  as 
follows : 

"I  think  you  have  struck  the  problem  of  China — 
how  to  make  the  table  and  upland  soils  productive 

I  know  a  place  ten   miles  in    diameter   of 

such  land  as  you  mention  where  no  one  lives 

There  is  lots  of  such  land  in  China  and  even  in 
North  Japan  where  I  have  traveled.  " 

This  letter  from  China  only  confirms  a  common 
observation  in  all  old  agricultural  regions  so  far  as 
I  have  seen  them;  namely,  that  without  the  return 
of  plant  food  in  some  form  the  level  uplands  must 
ultimately  become  practically  worthless  and  barren, 
while  the  sloping  hill  lands  maintain  a  very  low 
grade  of  permanent  agriculture. 

It  is  certainly  good  farm  practice,  and  usually  the 
best  farm  practice,  to  remove  the  largest  possible 
quantities  of  plant  food  from  the  soil,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  large  crops  require  large  quantities  of 
plant  food ;  but  it  is  no  less  important  to  restore  to 
the  soil,  when  needed,  even  larger  quantities  of 
plant  food  than  are  removed — by  turning  under 
legume  catch  crops  and  crop  residues  not  removed 
from  the  field,  by  returning  manures,  produced  on 


88  Practical      F  arming 

the  farm,  and  so  far  as  necessary  by  the  purchase 
of  commercial  plant  food,  such  as  phosphorus  in 
bone  meal  or  rock  phosphate,  or,  if  needed,  potas- 
sium in  concentrated  potassium  salts. 

Effect  of  Crop  Rotation 
Let  us  consider  in  further  detail  the  effect  of 
crop  rotation  on  soil  fertility.  Suppose  we  are 
practicing  a  four-year  rotation,  including  corn  for 
two  years,  oats  with  clover  seeding  the  third  year, 
and  clover  for  hay  and  seed  crops  the  fourth  year. 
Let  us  assume  such  crop  yields  as  have  been  pro- 
duced and  as  can  be  produced,  in  normal  seasons 
on  the  richest,  best  treated  land,  with  good  seed  and 
good  farming;  namely,  ioo  bushels  of  corn  per  acre, 
ioo  bushels  of  oats,  and  four  tons  per  acre  of 
clover,  including  perhaps  three  tons  in  the  hay  crop 
and  one  ton  in  the  seed  crop.  If  we  do  not  succeed 
in  securing  these  yields  we  should  at  least  try  to 
make  such  yields  possible  and  we  should  approach 
as  near  to  them 'as  we  can.  (On  the  best  treated 
land  at  the  University,  87  bushels  of  corn  per  acre 
have  been  produced  as  an  average  of  the  last  five 
years,  and  on  three  different  soil  experiment  fields 
in  the  State  we  have  harvested  more  than  90 
bushels  of  oats  per  acre.) 

Let  us  first  consider  the  phosphorus  required  for 
this  rotation.  The  two  crops  of  corn  will  each  re- 
quire 23  pounds,  17  for  the  grain  and  6  for  the 
stalks;  the  oat  crop  will  require  15  pounds  of  phos- 
phorus, about  t  1  for  the  grain  and  4  for  the  straw; 


Effect  of  Crop  Rotation  89 

and  the  4-ton  crop  of  clover  will  require  20  pounds 
of  phosphorus.  Thus  we  see  that  81  pounds  of  the 
element  phosphorus  will  be  required  for  the  rota- 
tion. If  we  leave  the  stalks  on  the  land  the  re- 
quirement is  reduced  to  69  pounds  of  phosphorus, 
or  to  about  17  pounds  a  year  per  acre. 

Suppose  the  soil  contains  in  the  first  seven  inches 
1,200  pounds  of  phosphorus  per  acre,  which  is  about 
the  average  of  the  principal  type  of  soil  in  the  Illi- 
nois corn  belt ;  how  many  years  would  be  required 
to  remove  this  amount  from  the  land  if  it  could  be 
drawn  upon  at  this  rate?  Only  seventy  years. 
On  the  other  hand,  suppose  with  this  crop  rotation, 
we  can  secure  from  the  soil  the  equivalent  of  only 
1  per  cent  of  the  phosphorus  contained  in  the  first 
seven  inches.  This  would  be  only  twelve  pounds 
of  phosphorus  a  year,  which  would  necessarily 
reduce  the  crop  yields  much  below  the  amounts 
suggested  above,  and,  with  the  further  reduction 
in  the  total  amount  of  phosphorus  year  by  year, 
the  crop  yields  must  be  reduced  accordingly. 

On  the  ordinary  soils  of  Illinois  ultimate  failure 
is  the  only  future  for  this  system  of  farming,  even 
if  we  consider  the  phosphorus  alone;  although,  as 
stated  above,  the  phosphorus  may  be  returned  in 
bone  meal,  in  rock  phosphate,  or  in  sufficient 
amounts  of  farm  manure. 

If  we  consider  the  element  nitrogen  in  this  sys- 
tem of  farming  we  find  that  200  bushels  of  corn 
require  about  200  pounds  of  nitrogen,  aside  from 


90  Practical     F  arming 

that  required  for  the  stalks,  and  the  stalks  must  be 
returned  to  the  land  without  burning,  otherwise 
the  96  pounds  of  nitrogen  required  for  the  two  crops 
of  stalks  will  also  be  removed  from  the  land.  The 
.oats  crop  will  remove  90  pounds  of  nitrogen,  mak- 
ing 290  pounds  per  acre  for  the  corn  and  the  oats. 

The  four  tons  of  clover  will  contain  about  160 
pounds  of  nitrogen  and  the  clover  roots  and  stubble 
about  one-half  as  much  as  the  tops,  or  80  pounds 
per  acre.  If  all  of  the  nitrogen  contained  in  the 
entire  clover  crop  is  taken  from  the  air,  the  rotation 
would  add  only  80  pounds  of  nitrogen  to  the  soil 
while  the  corn  and  oats  would  remove  290  pounds. 

How  then  is  it  possible  to  maintain  the  supply  of 
nitrogen  by  this  rotation?  It  is  not  possible. 
Under  such  a  rotation  with  all  crops  removed  ex- 
cept the  corn  stalks,  the  supply  of  nitrogen  grows 
less  and  less.  Where  this  rotation  is  successful  for 
a  time  it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  soil  nitrogen  has 
been  drawn  upon  year  by  year  while  the  chief 
effect  of  the  clover  has  been  to  extract  phosphorus 
from  the  soil  for  its  own  growth  and  for  the  use  of 
succeeding  crops. 

There  is  another  point  to  be  considered  in  refer- 
ence to  nitrogen.  On  land  that  is  capable  of  fur- 
nishing sufficient  nitrogen  for  even  a  50 -bushel  crop 
of  corn,  the  clover  crop  will  undoubtedly  draw  a 
third  of  its  nitrogen  from  the  soil  and  not  more  than 
two-thirds  from  the  air.  Consequently,  since  two- 
thirds  of  the  nitrogen  in  the  entire  plant  is  removed 


Effect  of  Crop  Rotation  91 

in  the  tops,  the  roots  and  stubble  will  leave  no 
more  nitrogen  in  the  soil  than  the  plant  takes  from 
the  soil.  How  then  can  we  maintain  the  supply  of 
nitrogen  in  the  soil?  By  plowing  under  sufficient 
clover  or  by  applying  sufficient  farm  manure,  or 
better,  by  using  both  of  these  means. 

If  all  the  crops  grown  in  the  rotation  are  fed, 
including  the  corn  stalks,  containing  a  total  of  526 
pounds  of  nitrogen  from  four  acres,  and  if  three- 
fourths  of  this,  or  395  pounds,  are  returned  in  the 
manure,  we  have  sufficient  to  replace  the  386 
pounds  removed  in  the  corn  and  oats  crops,  and 
we  may  assume  that  the  160  pounds  of  nitrogen 
removed  in  the  clover  came  from  the  air.  Of 
course  some  additional  nitrogen  will  be  saved  in 
the  straw  and  stalks  which  are  used  directly  for 
bedding  and  not  for  feed. 

How  shall  the  grain  farmer  maintain  the  nitrogen 
in  his  soil?  Possibly  this  can  be  done  by  plowing 
under  everything  produced  except  the  grains  and 
the  clover  seed,  preferably  only  one  corn  crop  being 
grown  in  the  rotation. 

The  problem  of  maintaining  the  nitrogen  be- 
comes easier  if  we  extend  the  rotation  to  include 
about  two  years  of  pasture,  using  a  mixture  of  red 
clover,  alsike,  timothy,  and  red  top  instead  of  seed- 
ing red  clover  only,  with  the  oats.  In  this  case 
three  grain  crops,  as  corn,  oats,  and  wheat,  or  corn 
two  years  and  oats  one  year,  could  be  grown  during 
the  six-year  rotation,  the  land  being  kept  in  mea- 
dow and  pasture  one-half  of  the  time. 


92  Practical    F arming 


Use  of  Farm  Manure 

Farm  manure  always  has  been,  and  without 
doubt  always  will  be,  the  principal  material  used  in 
maintaining  the  fertility  of  the  soil;  but  it  is  an 
unquestionable  fact  that  the  greatest  source  of 
loss  to  American  agriculture  to-day  is  in  the  enor- 
mous waste  of  farm  manure. 

If  corn  were  worth  $1.05  a  bushel,  then  the  aver- 
age annual  value  of  the  corn  crop  of  the  United 
States  for  the  past  ten  years,  including  1906,  would 
be  equal  to  the  average  value  of  the  total  farm 
manure  annually  produced  in  this  country.  This 
statement  is  based  upon  the  careful  estimates  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  placing 
the  average  annual  corn  crop  at  nearly  2 \  billion 
bushels,  and  the  average  value  of  the  manure' 
annually  produced  by  20  million  horses  and  mules, 
61  million  cattle,  47  million  hogs,  and  52  million 
sheep,  at  more  than  2 J  billion  dollars. 

The  evidence  is  sufficient  to  fully  justify  the 
conclusion,  and  practical,  observing  farmers  will 
agree,  that  at  least  one -third  of  the  manure  pro- 
duced is  wasted  on  the  average  American  farm. 
If  this  is  true,  then  the  total  value  per  annum  of 
all  commercial  fertilizers  used  in  the  United  States 
(amounting  to  about  $75,000,000)  is  equal  to  only 
one-tenth  of  the  annual  waste  of  farm  manure. 
This  is  no  argument  against  the  intelligent  and 
profitable  use  of  commercial  plant  food  by  those 
who  make,  and  save,  and  use,  farm  manure  to  the 


Value  of  Farm  Manure  93 

greatest  possible  practicable  extent,  but  it  serves 
only  to  emphasize  the  tremendous  loss  to  the  coun- 
try from  the  waste  that  is  permitted. 

The  opinion  is  sometimes  expressed  that  the 
manure  made  from  the  crops  grown  on  the  farm 
should  be  sufficient  to  maintain  the  fertility  of  the 
soil.  I  have  made  diligent  inquiry  at  many  far- 
mers' institutes  in  various  parts  of  Illinois  for  men 
who  own  farms  of  1 60  acres  or  more  that  have  ever 
had  manure  applied  over  the  entire  farm  made 
only  from  crops  grown  on  the  farm.  I  have  found 
only  one  such  man;  and  I  believe  that  one-half  of- 
the  land  on  90  per  cent  of  the  farms  of  Illinois  has 
never  received  a  dressing  of  farm  manure. 

Value  of  Farm  Manure 
It  is  one  thing  to  say  that  farm  manure  has  a 
value,  but  quite  another  thing  to  say  what  that 
value  is  or  to  what  it  is  due. 

The  positive  or  intrinsic  value  of  farm  manure 
lies  in  the  amounts  of  valuable  plant  food  which  it 
contains.  It  also  possesses  an  important  indirect 
value  as  a  soil  stimulant,  due  to  its  power  as  it  fer- 
ments and  decays,  in  contact  with  the  soil,  to 
liberate  from  the  soil  plant  food  that  would  not 
otherwise  become  available  so  quickly.  There  is 
still  another  distinct  value  in  farm  manure  due  to 
the  fact  that  it  makes  the  soil  more  porous  and 
spongy  and  thus  increases  the  power  of  the  soil  to 
absorb  and  retain  moisture  and  to  resist  surface 
washing.     In  other  words,  this  third  value  of  farm 


94  Practical    Farming 

manure  is  due  to  improvement  in  physical  con- 
dition . 

The  value  of  farm  manure  for  its  physical  im- 
provement of  the  soil  is  commonly  fully  appre- 
ciated, and  frequently  overestimated,  by  popular 
agricultural  writers,  while  its  value  for  the  plant 
food  which  it  supplies  and  for  that  which  it  liber- 
ates from  the  soil  is  sometimes  almost  ignored. 

There  is  no  good  excuse  for  erroneous  teaching 
regarding  these  different  values  because  there 
exists  a  vast  amount  of  positive  information  both 
from  practical  experience  and  from  exact  scientific 
investigations. 

Thus,  organic  matter  from  peat  beds  hauled  out 
and  spread  on  the  land  and  incorporated  with  the 
soil  produces  no  such  effects  on  crop  yields  as  are 
produced  by  good  farm  manure.  Why?  Because 
the  peat  does  not  decay  readily  so  as  to  furnish 
plant  food  either  by  its  own  decomposition  or  by 
liberating  it  from  the  soil;  and  yet  the  peat  has  as 
great  power  as  farm  manure  for  physical  improve- 
ment of  the  soil. 

Manure  made  from  clover  hay  and  heavy  grain 
rations  has  much  greater  value  than  manure  made 
from  wheat  straw.  Why?  Is  it  because  they 
affect  the  physical  conditions  of  the  soil  in  dif- 
ferent ways?  No.  The  great  difference  in  value 
is  due  to  the  difference  in  plant  food  and  in  rapidity 
of  decay. 

At  the  famous  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 
at  Rothamsted,  England,  on  a  field  to  which  no 


Value  of  Farm  Manure  95 

manure  and  no  plant  food  have  been  applied,  the 
average  yield  of  wheat  has  been  1 3 .  1  bushels  per 
acre  for  more  than  half  a  century.  Land  treated 
with  a  heavy  annual  application  of  farm  manure 
has  produced  35.7  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  as  an 
average  of  51  years.  Another  field  treated  with 
commercial  plant  food  without  organic  matter  has 
produced  37.1  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  as  an 
average  during  the  same  time.  The  latter  field 
received  a  little  less  plant  food  than  was  furnished 
in  the  manure,  thus  furnishing  ample  proof  of  the 
value  of  plant  food  supplied  in  manure,  and  show- 
ing that  the  physical  effect  of  the  farm  manure  was 
by  no  means  so  important. 

Nevertheless,  the  physical  effect  should  not  be 
overlooked.  Under  certain  seasonal  conditions 
this  physical  value  may  be  very  important.  Thus, 
in  the  very  dry  season  of  1893  at  Rothamsted  the 
land  fertilized  with  commercial  plant  food  pro- 
duced only  21.7  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  while 
the  farm  manure  plot  produced  34.2  bushels  the 
same  year. 

In  semi-arid  regions  the  physical  condition  of 
the  soil  and  its  power  to  absorb  and  retain  moisture 
may  be  the  controlling  factor  in  crop  yields,  but 
where  the  average  annual  rainfall  is  28.21  inches 
(as  at  Rothamsted)  or  37.39  inches  (as  in  Illinois), 
with  a  fairly  uniform  distribution  during  the  grow- 
ing season,  the  physical  conditions  of  the  soil  in 
relation  to  crop  yields  may  be  compared  to  the 
shelter  and  other  physical  surroundings  provided 


96  Practical    F arming 

for  live  stock.  In  other  words,  under  normal  con- 
ditions the  controlling  factor  is  food,  for  crops  as 
well  as  for  live  stock. 

While  manure  has  some  value  for  physical  im- 
provement and  a  larger  value  of  its  power  to  liber- 
ate plant  food  from  the  soil,  it  should  be  clearly 
understood  and  always  borne  in  mind  that  the 
great  value  of  farm  manure,  especially  in  profitable 
systems  of  permanent  agriculture,  is  due  to  the 
plant  food  it  contains,  and  that  the  greatest  prob- 
lem in  the  handling  of  farm  manure  is  to  prevent 
the  loss  of  plant  food. 

The  value  of  average  fresh  farm  manure  is  about 
$2.25  a  ton  either  when  determined  by  chemical 
analysis  on  the  basis  of  present  market  values  for 
the  plant  food  contained  in  the  manure  or  when 
determined  by  the  value  of  the  increased  crop 
yields  produced  when  the  manure  is  applied  to  the 
fields  in  ordinary  crop  rotations. 

This  means  that  a  pile  of  average  fresh  farm 
manure  containing  100  tons  is  worth  about  $225. 
If  exposed  to  leaching  from  heavy  rains  during 
only  two  or  three  months  in  the  spring  the  value 
will  be  reduced  as  a  rule  from  $225  to  about  $150 
by  the  loss  of  plant  food  without  much  reduction 
in  total  weight.  Indeed,  the  total  weight  is  fre- 
quently increased  under  such  conditions  because 
the  rainwater  that  remains  in  the  manure  may  be 
in  greater  amount  than  the  urine  that  has  been 
washed  out.  Fermentation  and  additional  leach- 
ing during  the  summer  may  easily  reduce  the 
value  to  $100  or  less. 


Selling  Fertility  97 


There  are  two  satisfactory  methods  for  handling 
manure : 

One  of  these  is  to  haul  and  spread  the  fresh  ma- 
nure daily,  or  at  least  two  or  three  times  a  week. 
For  this  purpose  a  manure  spreader,  or  at  least  a 
wagon  used  for  this  work  only,  is  very  useful  and 
almost  necessary. 

The  other  method  is  to  allow  the  manure  to 
accumulate  in  the  stall  or  covered  feeding  shed 
while  it  is  constantly  tramped  by  the  animals  and 
kept  moist  by  the  liquid  excrement,  sufficient  bed- 
ding being  used  to  absorb  the  excess  and  to  keep 
the  stock  clean,  and  then  to  haul  arid  spread  it  on 
the  land  when  conditions  permit.  It  should  not  be 
left,  however,  to  dry  out  and  heat  and  decompose 
in  the  stalls  or  sheds  long  after  the  animals  have 
been  turned  out  to  pasture. 

Selling   Fertility 

Every  system  of  farming  should  be  so  planned 
as  to  be  both  profitable  and  permanent,  which  re- 
quires that  the  productive  capacity  of  the  land 
must  be  maintained.  We  must  understand  then 
what  the  soil  contains,  what  materials  are  required 
to  produce  crops,  in  which  parts  of  the  crops  these 
different  materials  are  deposited,  so  as  to  know 
what  part  of  the  produce  may  be  sold  and  what 
part  should  be  retained  on  the  farm;  also  what  is 
done  with  these  important  plant  food  materials 
when  the  crops  are  fed  to  live  stock. 


98  Practical    F arming 

The  older  prairie  and  upland  timber  soils  of 
Illinois  are  exceedingly  rich  in  potassium,  but 
relatively  deficient  in  both  nitrogen  and  phosphorus. 
In  the  worn  hill  lands  nitrogen  is  usually  more 
deficient  than  phosphorus,  while  in  the  average 
long-cultivated  prairie  soil  phosphorus  is  more 
deficient  than  nitrogen. 

When  grain  crops  are  produced,  as  corn,  oats, 
and  wheat,  about  two -thirds  of  the  nitrogen  and 
three-fourths  of  the  phosphorus  but  only  one-fourth 
of  the  potassium  required  for  the  crop  are  stored 
in  the  grain  or  seed;  while  about  one-third  of  the 
nitrogen,  one-fourth  of  the  phosphorus,  and  three- 
fourths  of  the  potassium  are  stored  in  the  straw 
or  stalks. 

Thus,  a  large  crop  of  corn  (100  bushels  to  the 
acre)  will  contain  about  100  pounds  of  nitrogen  in 
the  grain  and  48  pounds  in  the  stalks;  17  pounds 
of  phosphorous  in  the  grain  and  6  pounds  in  the 
stalks;  19  pounds  of  potassium  in  the  grain  and 
52  pounds  in  the  stalks.  Quite  similar  relations 
exist  between  the  grain  and  straw  of  other  crops. 

Now,  with  these  facts  in  mind  it  is  plain  to  see 
that  a  system  of  farming  in  which  the  grain  is  sold 
and  only  the  stalks  and  straw  are  kept  on  the  farm 
and  returned  to  the  soil  carries  off  in  the  grain 
much  of  the  nitrogen  and  phosphorus,  in  both  of 
which  these  soils  are  more  or  less  deficient  and 
which  should  be  returned  to  the  land;  while  the 
potassium,  of  which  the  soil  contains  an  inexhaus- 


Selling  Fertility  99 

tible  supply  (enough  in  the  first  seven  inches  for  100 
bushels  of  corn  per  acre  every  year  for  seventeen 
centuries),  is  largely  returned  in  the  straw  and 
stalks. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  legume  crops,  as 
clover,  cowpeas,  and  soy  beans,  are  rich  in  both 
nitrogen  and  phosphorus,  3^  tons  of  clover  hay 
containing  as  much  phosphorus,  and  40  pounds 
more  nitrogen,  than  100  bushels  of  corn. 

If  the  crops  are  fed  to  live  stock,  it  is  well  to 
know  that  about  one-fourth  of  the  nitrogen  and 
one-fourth  of  the  phosphorus  are  retained  in  the 
flesh  and  bone  of  the  animal,  while  three-fourths 
of  the  nitrogen  and  phosphorus  and  practically  all 
of  the  potassium  are  returned  in  the  solid  and 
liquid  manure. 

Thus  we  have  another  process  of  separation  by 
which  part  of  the  needed  nitrogen  and  phosphorus 
leaves  the  farm  with  the  animals,  while  the  potas- 
sium is  again  returned,  even  though  it  may  not 
be  needed. 

It  should  be  a  plain  fact  that  manure  made  from 
animal  excrements  with  straw  or  stalks  for  bedding 
must  be  deficient  in  nitrogen,  and  still  more  defi- 
cient in  phosphorus,  but  rich  in  potassium,  as  com- 
pared with  the  requirements  of  the  crop ;  and  this 
is  especially  noteworthy  when  the  manure  is  to  be 
used  on  land  already  deficient  in  nitrogen  and 
phosphorus,    but   well   supplied   with   potassium. 

In  the  case  of  nitrogen  the  difficulty  can  be  over- 


ioo  Practical    Farming 

come  by  making  a  liberal  use  of  clover  or  other 
legumes  in  the  crop  rotation  and  as  catch  crops, 
turning  under  these  crops  and  crop  residues  so  far 
as  practicable.  Legume  crops  may  also  be  used 
in  pastures  to  a  considerable  extent,  thus  securing 
nitrogen  from  the  air  to  balance  the  deficiency  in 
the  manure. 

With  the  phosphorus,  the  difficulty  is  greater, 
because  the  proportion  contained  in  the  manure  is 
less,  and  there  is  no  such  ever-present  inexhaustible 
supply  as  in  the  case  of  nitrogen. 

Increasing  the  Value  of  Farm  Manure 

It  must  be  apparent  that  to  increase  the  value 
of  farm  manure  we  should  add  phosphorus  to  it. 
Thus  we  can  balance  manure  and  when  used  on 
soils  rich  in  potassium  in  rotations  with  nitrogen- 
fixing  legume  crops  we  can  provide  plant  food  in  a 
balanced  ration  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  maximum 
crop  yields.  By  these  means  we  can  check  the 
progress  of  soil  exhaustion  and  even  gradually 
increase  the  fertility  and  productive  capacity  of 
the  land.  Indeed,  we  can  thus  profitably  enrich 
such  land  even  beyond  its  virgin  fertility. 

By  far  the  cheapest  form  of  phosphorus  is  fine- 
ground  raw  rock  phosphate.  This  material  is  but 
slightly  available  for  the  use  of  crops  if  applied  to 
soils  deficient  in  decaying  organic  matter;  but, 
if   applied    in    intimate    connection    with    rotting 


Increasing  the  Value  of  Farm  Manure  101 

manure,  it  is  thus  made  soluble  and  available  for 
plant  growth. 

Certainly  one  of  the  most  profitable,  and  prob- 
ably the  very  most  profitable,  method  of  main- 
taining the  necessary  supply  of  phosphorus  in  the 
soil  is  to  put  back  into  the  manure  in  the  form  of 
fine-ground  raw  rock  phosphate  somewhat  larger 
amounts  of  phosphorus  than  the  animal  has  re- 
tained in  his  bones.  It  is  well  for  a  time  at  least 
to  put  back  larger  amounts  than  the  animals  retain, 
because  the  soils  are  already  deficient  in  phosphorus 
and  also  because  there  may  be  some  waste  of  ma- 
nure. 

These  statements  are  based  both  upon  the  chemi- 
cal analysis  of  soils  and  crops  and  manures,  and 
also  upon  carefully  conducted  field  experiments 
covering  many  years. 

The  Maryland  Experiment  Station  furnishes 
some  valuable  data  from  probably  the  earliest 
systematic  investigations  still  being  continued, 
and  a  large  amount  of  information  is  rapidly  ac- 
cumulating from  our  more  extensive  work  in  Illi- 
nois; but  the  most  complete  experiments  of  long 
duration  are  reported  by  the  Ohio  Experiment 
Station.  Where  40  pounds  of  fine-ground  rock 
phosphate,  costing  about  16  cents,  were  added  to 
each  ton  of  manure  and  8  tons  of  manure  per  acre 
were  applied  for  a  three-year  rotation  of  corn, 
wheat,  and  clover,  the  value  of  the  increase  in  crop 
yields  was  equal  to  $2 .  66  for  each  ton  of  manure 


io2  Practical    F arming 


used,  in  case  of  yard  manure  (which  was  worth 
only  $1.64  per  ton  without  the  phosphate);  and, 
in  case  of  the  stall  manure,  its  value  was  increased 
from  $2.22  a  ton  to  $3.42  by  the  addition  of  the 
16  cents'  worth  of  rock  phosphate,  these  results 
being  the  average  of  nine  years'  experiments  on 
three  different  series  of  plots,  based  upon  increased 
yield  valued  at  35  cents  a  bushel  for  corn,  70  cents 
for  wheat,  and  $6 .00  a  ton  for  clover  hay. 

If  we  deduct  the  cost  of  the  phosphate  used,  we 
still  have  what  might  be  termed  a  net  value  of  $2.50 
for  the  phosphated  yard  manure  and  $3 .  24  a  ton 
for  the  phosphated  stall  manure. 

Of  course  it  would  be  equally  appropriate,  and 
possibly  more  so,  to  speak  of  "manured  phosphate  " 
instead  of  "phosphated  manure, "  because  the  rock 
phosphate  actually  furnishes  the  needed  and  defi- 
cient element,  phosphorus,  while  the  manure  helps 
to  make  it  available.  On  this  basis  we  may  say 
that  the  value  of  40  pounds  of  rock  phosphate  is 
increased  from  16  cents  to  $1 .02  by  mixing  with  a 
ton  of  yard  manure,  and  from  16  cents  to  $1 .  20  by 
mixing  with  a  ton  of  stall  manure,  after  deducting 
the  value  of  the  untreated  manure  in  each  case. 

The  most  important  fact  to  keep  in  mind,  how- 
ever, is  that  both  the  manure  and  rock  phosphate 
are  much  more  valuable  when  used  together  than 
when  used  separately,  because  manure  is  deficient 
in  phosphorus  and  rock  phosphate  does  not  act 
except  in  connection  with  rotting  organic  matter. 


Normal  and  Abnormal  Soils  103 

As  a  rule  it  is  better  to  use  sufficient  rock  phosphate 
with  each  ton  of  manure  so  as  to  supply  about  200 
pounds  of  rock  phosphate  per  acre  for  each  year 
in  the  crop  rotation.  (A  good  grade  of  raw  rock 
phosphate  costing  $8  to  $10  a  ton  delivered  in  Illi- 
nois contains  at  least  12^  per  cent  of  the  actual 
element  phosphorus.  It  is  as  rich  as  steamed  bone 
meal,  twice  as  rich  as  acid  phosphate,  and  four 
times  as  rich  in  phosphorus  as  ordinary  "complete  " 
commercial  fertilizers  costing  $20  a  ton.) 

There  are  two  very  satisfactory  methods  of  mix- 
ing the  rock  phosphate  with  the  manure.  One  is 
to  sprinkle  the  phosphate  over  the  manure  from 
day  to  day  as  it  is  being  made  in  the  stall  or  covered 
shed.  The  other  method  is  to  fill  the  spreader  part 
full  of  manure,  then  sprinkle  phosphate  over  it 
sufficient  for  the  load,  finish  loading  with  manure, 
and   drive  to  the   field  and  spread. 

This  produces  an  intimate  mixture  and  a  very 
uniform  distribution,  and  requires  practically  no 
extra  work  to  get  the  phosphate  on  the  land. 
Care  should  be  taken  that  the  manure  is  not  too 
dry  when  the  phosphate  is  sprinkled  over  the  load, 
otherwise  the  dry  rock  dust  may  get  into  the  gear- 
ing or  bearings  of  the  spreader  and  cause  them  to 
wear  rapidly. 

Normal  and  Abnormal  Soils 
There  are  some  extraordinary  or  abnormal  soils. 
Thus,  there  are  soils  exceedingly  rich  in  nitrogen 
and  well  supplied  with  phosphorus,  but  very  defi- 


104  Practical    F arming 

cient  in  potassium;  as,  for  example,  certain  peaty 
swamp  soils  on  which  the  application  of  potassium 
produces  an  increase  in  the  corn  crop  usually 
amounting  to  more  than  thirty  bushels  per  acre, 
and  on  which  Illinois  farmers  are  already  using 
about  $20,000  worth  of  concentrated  potassium 
salts  annually,  and  with  a  net  profit  of  more  than 
200  per  cent. 

There  are  soils  exceedingly  rich  in  phosphorus 
and  well  supplied  with  potassium,  but  deficient 
only  in  the  element  nitrogen,  and  which  require 
only  a  liberal  use  of  legume  crops  to  be  turned 
under  as  green  manures  or  returned  to  the  soil  as 
stable  manure  in  order  to  render  them  highly  pro- 
ductive and  profitable  soils.  Abnormal  soils  of 
this  class  exist  in  considerable  areas  in  the  geologic 
neighborhood  of  phosphate  regions,  as  in  certain 
sections  of  Tennessee  and  Southern  Kentucky. 
Some  of  these  soils  contain  twenty  times  as  much 
phosphorus  as  the  average  Illinois  corn  belt  soil. 

But,  when  we  consider  the  ordinary,  normal 
upland  timber  and  prairie  soils  of  Illinois,  there  are 
two  substances  always  to  be  kept  in  mind,  and 
always  to  be  provided  in  abundance,  for  any  and 
every  system  of  permanent  agriculture  to  be  prac- 
ticed on  these  soils.  These  two  essential  substances 
are  phosphorus  and  decaying  organic  matter, 
which  will,   of  course,   also  supply  the  nitrogen. 

It  is  not  of  so  great  consequence  by  what  meth- 
ods or  in  what  forms  these  materials  are  supplied. 


Normal  and  Abnormal  Soils  105 

Phosphorus  can  be  purchased  in  grain,  or  in 
other  concentrated  foodstuffs,  to  be  fed  with  clover 
hay,  it  may  be,  and  then  applied  in  the  form  of 
farm  manure;  or  phosphorus  may  be  applied  in 
the  form  of  bone  meal,  which  is  also  a  farm  product, 
or  it  may  be  obtained  from  the  great  phosphate 
mines  of  our  southern  states,  as  we  obtain  coal  from 
our  extensive  mineral  deposits. 

The  decaying  organic  matter  may  be  supplied 
in  farm  manure,  or  in  sufficient  quantities  of  leg- 
ume crops  not  harvested  and  removed  from  the 
land,  but  turned  under  as  green  manures,  includ- 
ing the  use  of  rotation  pastures,  or  still  better  and 
more  easily,  and  usually  more  profitably,  by  a 
combination  of  these  methods. 

But  there  can  be  no  permanent  agriculture  for 
these  soils  by  any  system  under  which  the  phos- 
phorus is  removed  and  sold  in  grain  and  bone  in 
larger  amounts  than  are  returned  to  the  soil,  nor 
under  any  system  by  which  the  organic  matter  of 
the  soil  is  worn  out  or  destroyed  more  rapidly  than 
it  is  replaced. 

On  the  other  hand,  systems  of  permanent  agri- 
culture for  these  soils  are  not  only  possible,  but 
they  are  more  profitable  than  any  system  under 
which  the  soil  grows  less  productive. 

Let  us  consider  some  of  the  results  already  ob- 
tained on  soil  experiments  fields  in  different  parts 
of  Illinois  on  a  few  important  types  of  soil. 


106  Practical    F  arming 

Soils  Deficient  in  Nitrogen 

Normal  soils  on  sloping  hill  lands  are  usually 
most  deficient  in  the  element  nitrogen.  They  can 
be  improved  by  growing  clover  or  other  legumes 
and  turning  these  crops  under  either  directly  or  in 
the  form  of  manure.  In  some  places,  more  especi- 
ally in  Southern  Illinois,  these  soils  are  more  or  less 
acid,  and  this  acidity  must  be  corrected  by  lime  or 
ground  limestone  in  order  to  grow  legume  crops 
successfully. 

On  the  Vienna  soil  experiment  field  in  Johnson 
County,  where  corn  is  grown  in  a  three-year  rota- 
tion, 118  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  have  been  pro- 
duced as  a  total  for  the  past  four  years  on  untreated 
rotated  land.  The  turning  under  of  legume  crops 
and  catch  crops  without  lime  has  produced  only 
six  bushels  total  increase.  Where  lime  has  been 
applied  with  this  legume  treatment,  the  produce 
has  been  168  bushels  in  four  years,  a  gain  of  50 
bushels  of  corn,  or  12J  bushels  a  year.  No  further 
increase  in  corn  has  been  made  as  yet  by  phos- 
phorus or  potassium. 

Four  wheat  crops  on  untreated  rotated  land 
(wheat  being  grown  on  the  same  land  once  in  three 
years)  have  produced  12  bushels,-  averaging  three 
bushels  a  year.  Where  legumes  have  been  turned 
under  the  four  crops  of  wheat  amounted  to  24 
bushels,  and  with  legume-lime  treatment  47  bush- 
els of  wheat  have  been  obtained,  averaging  12 
bushels  a  year 


Soils  Deficient  in  Nitrogen  107 

Thus,  legumes  without  lime  increased  the  aver- 
age yields  by  %\  bushels  of  corn  and  three  bushels 
of  wheat;  and  legumes  with  lime  increased  the 
average  yields  by  12^  bushels  of  corn  and  nine 
bushels  of  wheat.  Phosphorus  and  potassium 
have  further  increased  the  yield  of  wheat,  but  not 
sufficiently  as  yet  to  justify  their  use  when  all  crops 
grown  are  considered. 

Some  pot  culture  experiments  conducted  with 
soil  from  worn  sloping  timber  land  in  Henry  County 
furnish  results  that  still  further  emphasize  the  need 
of  nitrogen  in  this  class  of  soils.  It  should  be 
understood  that  pot  cultures  are  carried  on  under 
perfect  control  and  with  almost  ideal  conditions 
for  the  highest  yields  possible  with  the  soil  used. 

Oats  were  grown  in  these  pot  cultures  and  they 
yielded  at  the  rate  of  21  bushels  per  acre  on  un- 
treated soil.  With  potassium  applied  the  rate  of 
yield  was  23  bushels,  with  phosphorus  31  bushels, 
and  with  nitrogen  applied  the  rate  of  yield  was  225 
bushels  of  oats  per  acre. 

Sand  soils  are  also  markedly  deficient  in  nitrogen 
as  a  rule.  On  the  Green  Valley  soil  experiment 
field  in  Tazewell  County,  as  an  average  of  three 
tests  each  year,  nitrogen  produced  3 1  bushels  per 
acre  increase  in  corn  in  1902  and  43  bushels  increase 
in  1903;  also  an  increase  of  27  bushels  of  oats  per 
acre  in  1904  and  18  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  in 
1905  ;  and  in  1906  four  plots  not  receiving  nitrogen 
yielded  18  bushels,   10  bushels,  8  bushels,  and  18 


108  Practical    F arming 

bushels,  respectively,  of  corn  per  acre,  while  four 
other  adjoining  or  intermediate  plots,  whose  treat- 
ment differed  from  the  first  four  only  in  the  appli- 
cation of  nitrogen,  produced,  respectively,  63 
bushels,  71  bushels,  75  bushels,  and  66  bushels  of 
corn  per  acre. 

On  similar  adjoining  land,  where  nitrogen  had 
been  supplied  only  by  growing  and  turning  under 
cowpeas,  four  plots  produced  58  bushels,  43  bush- 
els, 46  bushels,  and  54  bushels  of  corn  per  acre, 
respectively. 

Soils  Deficient  in  Potassium 

Peaty  swamp  lands  are  commonly  exceedingly 
rich  in  nitrogen,  well  supplied  with  phosphorus, 
but  very  deficient  in  potassium.  On  the  Momence 
soil  experiment  field,  in  Kankakee  County,  corn 
has  been  grown  every  year  for  five  years  on  one 
series  of  plots.  Three  plots  in  this  series  not  treat- 
ed with  potassium  have  produced  14.3  bushels, 
10. o  bushels,  and  10.6  bushels,  respectively,  of 
corn  per  acre  as  a  total  for  the  five  crops,  the  aver- 
age annual  yield  being  2 . 4  bushels  per  acre  of  corn 
of  very  poor  quality.  On  three  adjoining  plots  of 
similar  land,  whose  treatment  differed  only  in  the 
application  of  potassium,  the  total  corn  produced 
in  the  five  crops  is  221.9  bushels,  242.8  bushels, 
and  233.7  bushels,  respectively,  thus  making  an 
average  annual  yield  of  46.6  bushels  of  corn  per 
acre. 


Soils  Deficient  in  Potassium  109 

As  an  average  of  the  five  years  at  35  cents  a  bush- 
el for  corn  the  average  annual  net  value  of  the  in- 
crease produced  by  potassium  amounts  to  $12.06 
an  acre  after  paying  for  the  cost  of  the  potassium 
applied. 

While  peaty  swamp  lands  are  very  abnormal  in 
composition,  they  are  abundant  in  northern  Illinois, 
and  their  improvement  with  the  use  of  potassium 
is  becoming  quite  general.  Indeed  the  annual  prof- 
its from  the  use  of  potassium  on  these  peaty  swamp 
lands  in  Illinois  is  already  known  to  be  far  above 
the  total  annual  appropriation  for  the  investigation 
of  Illinois  soils. 

But  of  far  greater  interest  and  importance  to 
Illinois  are  the  results  obtained  from  the  improve- 
ment of  the  ordinary  prairie  and  upland  timber 
soils,  representing  the  most  abundant  soil  types 
of  the  state. 

Counting  35  cents  a  bushel  for  corn,  25  cents  for 
oats,  70  cents  for  wheat,  and  $6 .00  a  ton  for  clover 
hay,  for  the  increases  produced  in  these  crops  by 
the  different  elements  of  plant  food  applied,  we 
may  summarize  in  a  very  brief  and  satisfactory 
manner  the  results  thus  far  secured  from  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  the  soil  experiment  fields  on  these 
important  soil  types  to  furnish  a  clear  understand- 
ing and  a  reliable  basis  of  opinion  concerning  the 
relative  and  actual  value  of  these  plant  food  ele- 
ments during  the  first  five  years. 


no  Practical    F arming 

Methods  of  Soil  Investigation 

It  should  be  understood  that  most  of  the  results 
reported  in  this  paper  have  been  secured  from 
what  we  term  "complete  fertility"  experiments, 
which  were  designed  for  the  one  purpose  of  securing 
information  as  quickly  as  possible  concerning  the 
needs  of  the  soil. 

Thus,  in  order  to  learn  quickly  and  certainly  if 
the  soil  needs  more  nitrogen  we  have  applied  nitro- 
gen liberally  in  one  of  the  best  and  most  expensive 
forms.  Other  experiments  are  in  progress  to 
ascertain  how  rapidly  and  how  economically  we  can 
secure  nitrogen  from  the  air  by  legumes  in  crop 
rotation. 

Again,  in  order  to  learn  if  the  soil  needs  phos- 
phorus we  have  applied  phosphorus  in  steamed 
bone  meal,  which  is  known  to  furnish  it  in  a  very 
good  and  readily  available  form,  although  at  three 
times  the  cost  of  natural  rock  phosphate.  Other 
experiments  are  in  progress  to  ascertain  how  rapidly 
we  can  make  rock  phosphate  available  under 
various  conditions. 

We  have  also  applied  the  element  potassium  in 
the  ordinary  commercial  salts,  as  potassium  sulfate, 
and  potassium  chlorid,  in  order  to  learn  if  this  ele- 
ment of  plant  food  applied  in  readily  available 
form  will  increase  our  crop  yields.  Other  experi- 
ments are  being  carried  on  with  the  hope  of  ascer- 
taining the  best  methods  of  liberating  sufficient 


Methods  of  Soil  Investigation  in 

potassium  from  the  immense  supply  naturally 
contained  in  most  soils. 

It  will  be  understood  then  that  while  the  infor- 
mation already  secured,  both  by  soil  analysis  and 
by  pot  cultures  and  field  experiments,  shows  con- 
clusively that  certain  soils  are  deficient  in  certain 
plant  food  elements  and  that  the  addition  of  these 
elements  produces  large  increases  in  crop  yields, 
the  investigation  is  by  no  means  complete  as  to  the 
most  profitable  means  of  supplying  these  different 
plant  food  elements  in  systems  of  permanent  agri- 
culture. 

If  the  total  supply  of  any  element  in  the  soil  is 
limited,  as  is  the  case  with  nitrogen  and  phosphorus 
in  most  soils,  it  seems  certain  that  no  system  of 
agriculture  can  be  permanently  successful  unless 
we  return  to  the  soil  as  large  or  larger  amounts  of 
that  element  as  we  remove  in  crops.  It  is  because 
of  this  apparently  self-evident  fact'  that  our  stan- 
dard application  of  phosphorus  is  slightly  more 
than  the  amount  removed  in  very  large  crops,  so 
that  under  this  treatment  the  soil  must  grow  richer 
and  richer  in  phosphorus. 

One  other  very  important  point  should  always 
be  kept  in  mind  in  considering  the  effect  of  soil 
treatment  on  crop  yields.  This  is  the  fact  that  the 
material  in  which  the  plant  food  element  is  applied 
may  produce  an  indirect  effect  which  may  cause 
an  increase  in  the  crop  yield  not  due  to  the  element 
in  mind  for  its  own  sake,  but  due  to  some  stimu- 


ii2  Practical    F arming 

lating  action  of  the  applied  substance  upon  other 
elements  already  in  the  soil.  Soluble  salts,  such 
as  sodium  nitrate,  acid  phosphate,  and  potassium 
salts,  are  known  -to  produce  some  very  marked 
indirect  or  stimulating  effects,  similar  to  the  effect 
of  that  powerful  soil  stimulant,  landplaster.  Ma- 
terials used  for  this  purpose  which  do  not  supply 
in  themselves  the  deficient  plant  food  element  in 
sufficient  amount  to  fully  meet  the  needs  of  the 
crop  are  to  be  used  with  caution  and  with  full  un- 
derstanding that  they  tend  to  make  the  soil  poorer 
and  poorer  in  the  element  liberated.  Light  and 
infrequent  applications  of  farm  manure  and  only 
occasional  crops  of  clover  act  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  as  soil  stimulants,  if  they  liberate  plant  food 
from  the  soil,  and  thus  enable  the  crops  to  remove 
much  larger  amounts  of  fertility  than  are  actually 
supplied  by  the  manure  or  clover. 

In  the  case  of  nitrogen  and  phosphorus  we  have 
tried  to  avoid  these  indirect  or  stimulating  effects 
by  using  dried  blood  and  steamed  bone  meal  in 
place  of  any  soluble  salts,  as  sodium  nitrate  and 
acid  phosphate,  which  are  very  commonly  used  for 
such  experiments;  but  there  is  no  satisfactory 
insoluble  readily  available  form  of  potassium,  and 
consequently  we  could  not  avoid  using  a  soluble 
potassium  salt.  Thus,  in  considering  the  results 
reported  below,  we  may  have  confidence  that  the 
effects  produced  by  nitrogen  and  phosphorus  are 
properly  to  be  credited  to  those  elements  for  their 


Soils  Deficient  in  Phosphorus  and  Nitrogen  113 

own  value  as  plant  food,  but  the  effects  on  crop 
yields  produced  by  potassium  salts  applied  to  soils 
naturally  rich  in  that  element  are  undoubtedly  due 
in  part  at  least  to  an  indirect  or  stimulating  action. 
The  actual  cost  per  acre  per  annum  for  the  mater- 
ials used  in  these  complete  fertility  experiments  is 
about  $15  for  100  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  dried  blood, 
$2  .  50  for  25  pounds  of  phosphorus  in  200  pounds  of 
steamed  bone  meal,  and  $2  .  50  for  40  pounds  of  po- 
tassium in  100  pounds  of  potassium  sulfate.  Thus, 
for  five  years  the  cost  per  acre  is  $75  for  nitrogen, 
$12.50  for  phosphorus,  and  $12.50  for  potassium. 

Soils  Deficient  in  Phosphorus  and  Nitrogen 

On  the  Antioch  soil  experiment  field,  in  Lake 
County,  on  timber  soil,  where  nitrogen  has  been 
applied  in  dried  blood  the  value  of  the  increase  in 
five  years  amounts  to  $6.04  an  acre;  where  phos- 
phorus has  been  applied  in  steamed  bone  meal  the 
value  of  the  increase  is  $33 .  73  an  acre  in  five  years ; 
and  where  potassium  has  been  used  in  addition  to 
both  nitrogen  and  phosphorus,  under  the  most 
favorable  condition,  the  value  of  the  increase  by 
potassium  is  $12.12. 

On  the  Bloomington  soil  experiment  field,  in 
McLean  County,  on  prairie  soil,  the  increase  pro- 
duced by  nitrogen  alone  is  worth  $1.77  in  five 
years;  where  bone  meal  was  applied  the  value  of 
increase    by    phosphorus    is    $22.77;  and    where 


ii4  Practical    F arming 

potassium  was  applied,  under  the  best  conditions, 
the  increase  in  crops  was  worth  $10 .  50. 

Of  greatest  interest  is  the  increase  produced  on 
this  typical  corn  belt  land  where  both  nitrogen  and 
phosphorus  were  provided.  This  amounted  to 
$36 .  49  in  five  years.  These  results  show  that  this 
soil  needs  both  phosphorus  and  nitrogen,  but  it 
needs  phosphorus  first.  Thus,  the  nitrogen  with- 
out phosphorus  was  worth  only  $1.77,  but  in  addi- 
tion to  phosphorus  the  nitrogen  was  worth  $13.72 
an  acre  in  five  years.  On  the  other  hand,  the  phos- 
phorus alone  was  worth  $22.77;  but  when  used 
with  nitrogen  the  phosphorus  was  worth  $34.72 
above  what  the  nitrogen  alone  was  worth. 

In  a  somewhat  different  rotation  on  the  Sibley 
soil  experiment  field  in  Ford  County,  on  prairie 
land,  the  value  of  increases  produced  in  five  years 
has  been  $2.45  for  nitrogen,  $12.99  f°r  phosphorus, 
$27.47  for  nitrogen  and  phosphorus  together,  and 
20  cents  for  potassium  when  applied  in  addition 
to  nitrogen  and  phosphorus. 

Phosphorus  and  Clover 

As  was  anticipated  when  these  experiments  were 
begun,  we  are  securing  information  more  rapidly 
where  we  are  applying  nitrogen  in  commercial 
form  at  an  annual  cost  of  $  1 5  or  more  per  acre  than 
where  we  depend  entirely  upon  legume  crops  grown 
in  the  rotations.  While  phosphorus  is  usually  the 
most  deficient  element  in  the  prairie  soils,  that  ele- 


Phosphorus  and  Clover  115 

ment  cannot  increase  the  yield  more  than  10  to  20 
bushels  as  a  rule  until  nitrogen  becomes  the  limit- 
ing element;  and  where  we  use  phosphorus  with- 
out nitrogen  the  nitrogen  limit  of  yield  grows  lower 
and  lower  until  ultimately  it  sinks  below  the  phos- 
phorus limit,  after  which  phosphorus  has  no  power 
to  increase  the  yield  until  the  supply  of  nitrogen  is 
increased.  The  very  marked  increase  in  clover 
produced  by  phosphorus  is  due  to  the  fact  that  for 
this  crop  there  is  no  nitrogen  limit  because  if  the 
available  soil  nitrogen  is  insufficient  the  clover 
plant  can  draw  upon  the  atmospheric  nitrogen  for 
enough  to  balance  its  own  ration. 

Thus,  on  the  Bloomington  field  in  1906,  phos- 
phorus increased  the  yield  of  clover  from  .  58  ton  to 
1.65  tons,  a  gain  of  1.07  tons  per  acre  by  phos- 
phorus ;  and,  as  an  average  of  the  last  three  years 
on  the  experiment  field  at  Urbana,  phosphorus  has 
increased  the  yield  of  clover  from  .73  ton  to  1.75 
tons  per  acre,  the  gain  for  phosphorus  being  more 
than  one  ton  of  clover  hay  per  acre  as  an  average 
of  three  successive  years,  all  weights  reported  being 
for  thoroughly  air-dried  hay  (not  merely  field 
cured). 

The  importance  of  phosphorus  and  clover  is  very 
well  illustrated  by  considering  the  yields  from  two 
plots  in  the  three -year  rotation  on  the  university 
field  at  Urbana,  which  differed  in  yielding  power 
by  only  three  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  as  an  average 
of  three  years  previous  to  the  beginning  of  treat- 


n6  Practical    Farming 

ment.  One  of  these  plots  has  been  receiving  phos- 
phorus since  1902,  while  the  other  receives  no  phos- 
phorus. Otherwise  the  two  plots  are  treated  alike 
in  every  respect. 

In  1903,  the  yields  of  corn  were  71  bushels  and 
84  bushels,  making  13  bushels  in  favor  of  the  phos- 
phorus-treated plot. 

In  1904,  the  yields  of  oats  were  48  and  60  bush- 
els, a  gain  of  12  bushels  for  phosphorus. 

In  1905,  the  yields  of  clover  were  .87  and  1.83 
tons  of  thoroughly  air-dry  hay,  a  gain  of  .96  ton, 
showing  that  the  phosphorus  more  than  doubled 
the  yield. 

In  1906,  corn  was  again  grown  on  these  plots  and 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  corn  would  be  bene- 
fited, not  only  by  the  phosphorus  applied,  but  also 
because  of  the  larger  amount  of  clover  roots  and 
residues  left  on  the  phosphorus  plot.  The  yields 
of  corn  in  1906  were  58  and  84  bushels,  a  difference 
of  26  bushels  in  favor  of  the  phosphorus  plot.  The 
value  of  the  increase  for  the  four  years  is  $22.41, 
while  the  phosphorus  cost  only  $10  in  steamed 
bone  meal,  and  the  same  amount  of  phosphorus 
can  be  purchased  in  raw  rock  phosphate  for  $3 .  20. 

On  the  Virginia  soil  experiment  field  in  Cass 
County,  nitrogen  is  already  the  limiting  element, 
being  more  deficient  than  phosphorus. 

The  value  of  the  increase  produced  by  nitrogen 
in  five  years  is  $6 .  94 ;  that  by  phosphorus  alone  is 
only  $1.78,  but  where  nitrogen  and  phosphorus 


Soil  Problems  in  Southern  Illinois      117 

are  applied  together  the  increase  is  worth  $13.89. 
Potassium  produced  $4 .  00  worth  of  increase  under 
the  most  favorable  conditions. 

It  is  known  that  the  untreated  check  plots  on  the 
Virginia  field  were  somewhat  better  than  the  other 
plots  in  the  field  when  the  experiments  were  begun. 
This  has  been  a  rather  heavy  handicap  against  the 
soil  treatment,  although  the  treated  land  has  over- 
come this  handicap  and  made  some  additional 
gains,  as  shown  by  the  data  given. 

If  we  consider  nitrogen  under  the  most  favor- 
able conditions,  as  we  have  regularly  done  with 
potassium,  we  shall  probably  have  a  more  trust- 
worthy opinion  of  its  importance  on  the  Virginia 
field.  Where  nitrogen  has  been  applied  in  addi- 
tion to  both  phosphorus  and  potassium,  the  value 
of  the  increase  by  nitrogen  is  $31. 80  an  acre  from 
the  five  crops. 

Soil  Problems  in  Southern  Illinois 

If  we  turn  to  the  experiment  fields  on  the  South- 
ern Illinois  prairie  lands,  we  may  summarize  the 
results  in  a  similar  manner,  but  we  shall  find  addi- 
tional problems  peculiar  to  those  soils,  some  of 
which  will  doubtless  require  much  further  investi- 
gation for  correct  and  final  solution. 

First  of  all  we  should  emphasize  the  fact  that  the 
common  soil  in  this  great  area  is  acid,  or  sour,  and 
that  some  form  of  lime  must  be  applied  to  the  land 
in  liberal  amount  as  a  part  of  any  system  of  im- 


n8  Practical    F arming 

provement  for  this  soil,  especially  for  the  benefit  of 
clover  and  other  legume  crops  which  are  so  essen- 
tial in  good  crop  rotations. 

Ground  limestone  promises  to  be  both  the  best 
and  the  most  economical  form  of  lime  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  definite  arrangements  have  already  been 
made,  under  the  direction  of  the  Governor  and  the 
Board  of  Prison  Industries,  to  have  the  State  fur- 
nish this  material  to  the  farmers  at  cost. 

Information  thus  far  secured  indicates  that  finely 
ground  limestone  will  be  delivered  at  the  railroad 
stations  in  Southern  Illinois  at  a  cost  varying  from 
$1.00  to  $2.00  a  ton,  that  two  to  four  tons  per 
acre  will  be  sufficient  for  an  initial  application,  and 
that  50  cents  an  acre  a  year  should  be  ample  to 
provide  for  subsequent  applications  sufficient  to 
keep  the  soil  sweet. 

As  an  average  of  56  tests  made  during  the  past 
three  years  on  crop  rotations  including  cowpeas, 
clover,  corn,  oats,  and  wheat,  the  average  annual 
value  of  the  increase  in  crop  yields  from  the  use 
of  lime  or  limestone  on  these  soils  has  been  more 
than  five  times  this  estimated  average  annual 
expense. 

These  soils  are  not  only  deficient  in  lime,  but 
they  are  also  very  deficient  in  phosphorus  and  in 
decaying  organic  matter  needed  to  make  available 
for  plant  growth  the  potassium  and  other  mineral 
elements  naturally  contained  in  the  soil  in  very 
large  quantities,  also  to  keep  the  phosphorus  in 


Soil  Problems  in  Southern  Illinois      119 

available  combination,  and  ultimately,  of  course, 
to  furnish  nitrogen,  which,  however,  at  present  is 
less  effective  when  applied  than  either  phosphorus 
or  potassium,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  data  given. 

As  an  average  of  duplicate  tests  on  the  Du  Bois 
field  in  Washington  County,  nitrogen  alone  has 
produced  $2  .  19  increase  in  five  years;  the  increase 
from  phosphorus  in  bone  meal  has  been  $20.74; 
while  potassium  applied  under  the  most  favored 
conditions,  has  produced  increases  valued  at  $9 .  93. 

It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  the  effect  of 
potassium  on  certain  very  important  crops,  as 
corn,  clover,  and  cowpeas,  is  more  marked  in  the 
later  years;  and  it  is  becoming  evident  that  until 
we  are  able  to  increase  the  supply  of  decaying 
organic  matter  in  those  Southern  Illinois  prairie 
soils,  we  may  find  some  profit  in  using  potassium, 
best  supplied  in  kainit,  perhaps,  probably  for  its 
combined  effect  as  plant  food  and  as  a  soil  stimu- 
lant, possibly  serving  in  part  to  make  phosphorus 
more  available  under  the  existing  conditions. 

In  this  special  connection,  the  results  obtained 
from  the  use  of  potassium  salts  and  of  other  salts 
as  well  in  investigations  extending  over  half  a  cen- 
tury at  the  Rothamsted  Experiment  Station  are  of 
great  interest  and  value : 

Where  wheat  was  grown  continuously  without 
organic  manures,  the  yield  was  increased  5 . 6  bush- 
els per  acre,  as  an  average  of  the  first  24  years,  by 
the  application  of  200  pounds  per  annum  of  po- 


120  Practical    F arming 

tassium  sulfate.  This  might  seem  to  be  conclusive 
proof  of  the  need  of  potassium  in  the  Rothamsted 
soil,  but  such  was  not  indicated  by  the  soil  analysis. 
Furthermore,  when,  instead  of  the  potassium  sul- 
fate, an  application  of  280  pounds  of  magnesium 
sulfate  was  substituted,  exactly  the  same  increase 
was  produced  as  an  average  of  the  24-year  period. 
During  the  second  24-year  period  the  potassium 
salt  increased  the  average  yield  by  8.8  bushels, 
while  the  increase  by  magnesium  sulfate  was  only 
6 . 6  bushels. 

In  the  case  of  barley  grown  continuously  on  the 
same  land  for  48  years,  the  application  of  sodium 
salts  without  potassium  produced  a  larger  average 
increase  than  when  potassium  was  included  in  the 
application. 

These  results  certainly  emphasize  the  fact  that 
the  effect  produced  by  potassium  salts  on  lands 
rich  in  native  potassium  may  be  due  largely  at 
least  to  its  power  as  a  soil  stimulant  and  that  the 
same  effect  may  be  secured  by  applying  other  less 
expensive  soluble  salts  or  probably  still  more  econo- 
mically by  means  of  decaying  organic  matter, 
which,  however,  must  be  first  produced  before  it 
can  be  turned  under. 

On  the  Cutler  experiment  field  in  Perry  County, 
nitrogen  has  produced  no  increase;  phosphorus 
alone  in  bone  meal  has  made  only  $4.85  in  five 
years;  while  potassium  used  alone  has  returned 
only  $1.23  in  the  five  years. 


Soil  Problems  in  Southern  Illinois      121 

Under  the  most  favored  conditions  for  each  ele- 
ment in  turn,  nitrogen  has  produced  no  gain,  phos- 
phorus a  gain  worth  $15 .  54,  and  potassium  a  gain 
worth  $13.82.  When  phosphorus  and  potassium 
were  used  together  the  gain  was  $25.56  per  acre  in 
five  years,  when  applied  in  bone  meal  and  potas- 
sium sulfate. 

Some  extensive  experiments  are  in  progress  on 
this  soil  in  which  these  elements  are  brought  to- 
gether at  much  less  expense,  the  phosphorus  being 
supplied  in  rock  phosphate  and  the  potassium  in 
smaller  amount  in  kainit,  which,  however,  also 
carries  some  other  salts  which  may  produce  the 
indirect  or  stimulating  effect.  The  object  of  this 
as  of  other  soil  investigations  is  to  find  some  system 
of  permanent  agriculture  that  shall  also  be  profit- 
able on  this  Southern  Illinois  soil,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  use  of  this  soluble  fertilizer  and 
stimulant  can  soon  be  replaced  by  manure  or  other 
organic  matter  from  the  increased  crops. 

On  the  regular  rotation  field  at  Cutler  where 
nitrogen  is  secured  only  by  growing  legumes,  the 
five-year  increase  by  phosphorus  and  potassium 
together  is  $18.34,  of  which  $9.12  were  secured 
during  the  first  three  years,  while  $9.22  were 
secured  during  the  last  two  years. 

Likewise  on  the  Odin  soil  experiment  field  in 
Marion  County,  the  average  increase  for  the  first 
three  years  does  not  pay  for  the  cost  of  treatment, 
but  the  increase  produced  on  three  series  of  plots 


122  Practical    F arming 

during  the  last  two  years  on  two  crops  of  corn,  two 
of  wheat,  one  of  cowpeas,  an*d  one  of  clover,  slightly 
more  than  paid  the  cost  of  the  bone  meal  and 
potassium  sulfate. 

The  average  yields  produced  on  these  best 
treated  plots  were  57  bushels  of  corn,  33  bushels 
of  wheat,  1 . 3  tons  of  clover,  and  2  . 4  tons  of  cowpea 
hay. 

On  one  division  of  the  Edgewood  soil  experi- 
ment field  in  Effingham  County,  where  the  land 
has  been  tile-drained  for  six  years,  and  where  the 
soil  has  been  treated  with  one  application  of  ten 
tons  of  ground  limestone  and  the  regular  amounts 
of  phosphorus  and  potassium,  the  following  yields 
have  been  secured : 

Clover,  2  .  69  tons  per  acre  in  1904 ; 
Corn,  87  bushels  per  acre  in  1905; 
Oats,  73  bushels  per  acre  in  1906. 

The  value  of  the  increase  produced  by  the  lime, 
phosphorus,  and  potassium,  over  the  untreated 
land,  is  $17.96  for  the  last  three  years,  averaging 
$5  .  99  per  acre  per  annum. 

It  should  be  understood  that  the  present  value 
of  this  land  is  at  least  $100  an  acre  less  than  that 
of  the  ordinary  corn  belt  land;  that  with  proper 
treatment  this  land  should  continue  to  improve, 
and  with  the  crops  now  being  produced  consider- 
able manure  will  be  made  which  can  be  returned 
to  the  land  to  further  increase  the  crop  yields  and 


Permanent  Agriculture  on  Every  Farm    123 

at  the  same  time  permit  some  decrease  in  the 
purchase  of  commercial  plant  food,  especially  of 
potassium. 

Furthermore,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  that 
systems  of  soil  improvement  must  be  adopted 
even  for  the  corn  belt  land  in  order  to  maintain 
its  present  value  and  productive  power. 

Time  will  not  permit  the  discussion  of  other 
Southern  Illinois  problems  concerning  which  we 
have  some  information  and  need  very  much  more, 
including  the  effect  and  feasibility  of  tile  drainage 
and  subsoiling,  the  special  value  of  farm  manure  on 
these  lands,  and  the  crops  and  crop  rotations  best 
adapted  to  the  profitable  improvement  of  Southern 
Illinois  soils. 

Permanent  Agriculture  on  Every  Farm 

In  conclusion,  I  beg  to  repeat  a  suggestion  which 
I  made  at  your  annual  meeting  four  years  ago,  to 
the  effect  that  every  landowner  adopt  a  system  of 
permanent  soil  maintenance  or  of  soil  improvement 
on  at  least  an  acre  strip  of  land  across  every  im- 
portant cultivated  field,  making  his  plan  for  this 
from  his  own  knowledge  combined  with  all  of  the 
information  obtainable  from  the  soil  experiment 
fields  and  other  soil  investigations. 

Whatever  treatment  is  decided  upon  should  be 
applied  and  repeated  with  every  rotation  with  any 
modifications  justified  by  accumulated  knowledge 
and   results,   until   it   is   demonstrated   upon   the 


124  Practical    Farming 

individual  farm  that  there  are  systems  of  perma- 
nent profitable  agriculture  of  unlimited  application 
that  can  be  practiced  in  Illinois. 

When  making  these  plans  for  our  most  common 
normal  prairie  lands  in  Northern,  Central,  and 
Southern  Illinois,  it  may  well  be  kept  in  mind  that 
our  three  greatest  problems  are : 

(i)  To  secure  nitrogen  from  the  inexhaustible 
supply  in  the  air. 

(2)  To  liberate  potassium  from  the  practically 
inexhaustible  supply  in  the  soil. 

(3)  To  return  phosphorus  to  the  soil  in  some 
form  in  as  large  or  larger  amounts  than  are  re- 
moved in  crops. 


V     OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

-CAL'FCP^ 


Through  the  courtesy  of  Professor  Hopkins,  I 
have  given  his  experiences  in  scientific  farming. 
Professor  Hopkins  is  doing  a  great  work,  and 
striving  to  arouse  the  farmers  to  a  better  cultivation 
of  their  land,  and  he  fully  realizes  the  importance 
of  a  better  system  of  farming. 


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